AFAWA partners with African Guarantee Bank in financing project for women entrepreneurs
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The African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program has agreed to partner with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), to unlock close to Ksh. 218.8 billion ($2 billion) in loans to women-owned SMEs in Africa. This will be facilitated by working with financial institutions to enhance their ability to lend to women.
The move signals the launch of AFAWA’s Guarantee for Growth (G4G) program, which aims to make available up to Ksh. 328.2 billion ($3 billion) in financing for women entrepreneurs through low-risk and technical assistance measures. Currently, financial institutions in Kenya, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are signing up to the program.
he African Development Bank’s (www.AfDB.org) Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program has agreed a partnership with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) to unlock $1.3 to 2 billion in loans to women-owned Small
African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), African Guarantee Fund, partner to unlock $1.3 - $2 billion in loans to women entrepreneurs
Financial institutions in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are signing on to the program
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, February 12, 2021/APO Group/
The African Development Bank’s (www.AfDB.org) Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program has agreed a partnership with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) to unlock $1.3 to 2 billion in loans to women-owned Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, by working with financial institutions to enhance their ability to lend to women.
The African Development Bank administers the ABABI, a family of African bond indices launched in February 2015 and calculated by the independent, global index provider Bloomberg.
At the launch, the indices included Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Botswana and Namibia joined in October 2015, and Ghana and Zambia in April 2017. Effective 1 January 2021, Mauritius and Morocco have become members of the ABABI, the Bank said.
“This is a positive development as the inclusion of Mauritius and Morocco, two of Africa’s better-rated issuers, will improve the overall credit quality of the ABABI, which now captures close to 90% of the outstanding amount of African sovereign local currency bonds,” said Stefan Nalletamby, Director of the Bank’s Financial Sector Development Department.
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) yesterday announced the addition of two new countries – Mauritius and Morocco – to its Bloomberg African Bond Indices (ABABI), marking a steady progress in the Bank’s efforts to deepen the continent’s local currency bond market.