Angelique Kidjo has managed to get the French President Emmanuel Macron and the G7 leadership have approve a fund of $251M which will go into supporting the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa ( AFAWA) initiative that seeks to empower women entrepreneurs across Africa.
In a statement, the bank said all the risk-sharing mechanism used by the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa is a practical approach to international commitments. While addressing journalists at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France, President Macron said he is particularly proud, as the sitting G7 president, of the program that they are supporting.
“The AFAWA initiative comes from an African organisation, the African Development Bank, which works with African guarantee funds and a network of African banks,” he said.
Beninese artist Angelique Kidjo, who was at the same press conference in her capacity as the programme ambassador, said African women are the backbone of the continent and that she was thrilled to bring their voice to the G7. Angelique Kidjo also reiterated the essential role that AFAWA initiative plays in the continent.
The African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina appreciated the kind of support that all the G7 heads of state and governments they have shown towards the AFAWA programme.
“This is a great day for African women, investing in women entrepreneurs in Africa is important, because women are not only Africa’s future, they are Africa’s present,” Adesina said.
Adesina also pointed out that women across Africa run over 40% of the total SMEs in the continent but they face a financing gap of up to $42 billion between them and their male counterparts. This, according to him, is the gap which needs to be bridged quickly.
The AFAWA initiative is targeting to raise more than $5 billion for African women entrepreneurs. The African Development Bank will give $1billion out of that target.
The AFAWA programme is founded on three fundamental principles which include improving women’s access to financing through innovative and adapted financial instruments.
Africa Global News Publication
