How New Funding Approaches Are Driving Equity For Women Entrepreneurs In Africa
Focused funding initiatives are cracking open a door for women in Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Experts argue they help bridge the capital access gap for women-led businesses.
Bonface Orucho, bird story agency
Funding initiatives that focus on women-led companies are being rolled out to address a financing gap long faced by women entrepreneurs and founders – especially in Africa.
Experts say these initiatives could herald a long-awaited change, particularly when combined with innovative financing models.
According to Mary Mugwanda, an economist at HapaSpace, a Ghanaian incubator, initiatives like those of her organisation and of others like Afrilabs’ RevUp Woman are laying a foundation that could be a game-changer for women.
“These efforts, if sustained and scaled, could catalyse generational change,” she explained in a call with bird story agency.
HapaSpace (not linked to AfriLabs) champions youth entrepreneurship and employability in Kumasi. In 2022, through its SmartWoman program, it helped 160 women in fashion and agriculture adopt digital tools to grow their businesses.
“By removing capital barriers today, we’re enabling a future where women’s ideas, products, and innovations become central to Africa’s development story.”
A 2021 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) report revealed that women in countries like Uganda, Ghana, and Malawi own over 25% of businesses, often outpacing men in startup activity. Studies have also shown that women in Africa exhibit higher entrepreneurial activity than men.
These trends place African women ahead of peers in wealthier nations, with countries like Malawi and Madagascar showing some of the narrowest gender gaps in entrepreneurship, globally.
Despite this, women struggle to obtain the capital they need to build their businesses. Africa’s startup community offers a stark example.
According to data from startup funding tracker Africa: Big Deal, in 2024, women CEOs raised only US$48 million in startup funding, over four times less than the nearly US$2.2 billion raised by male CEOs.
According to Kikelomo Owoyale, chief financial officer (CFO) at StatSmat and former CFO at FirstFounders, gender bias, perceived market limitations, and internalised barriers all play a role, despite the clear opportunities offered by booming markets across the continent.
“Beyond the well-known gender bias in investment decisions, there’s also the demand constraint—investors often underestimate the market potential of women-led innovations,” she explained.
However, the tide is turning.
The push to close the funding gap is intense, from investor-backed incubators to homegrown initiatives by women leaders themselves.
A prime example is AfriLabs’s RevUp Woman. The program is backed by the VISA Foundation and delivered through 10 hubs in five countries.
According to a report by AfriLabs, the program targeted early-stage women entrepreneurs and blended practical training, global mentorship, and US$10,000 grants to spark real business growth, which were awarded to 10 standout startups.
RevvUp Women trained 444 female entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon, and the DRC in a 12-week hybrid accelerator program that delivered mentorship, capacity building and, crucially, US$10,000 grants to 10 standout businesses, bridging the chronic funding gap many women entrepreneurs face.
In an interview, Baby Grubz CEO, Oluwaseun Sangoleye said the Nigerian child nutrition startup used the grant to expand operations and complete infrastructure upgrades.
“Even though we’re a profitable business, taking money from the profits to grow the business can be very challenging… This is the first time I’ve been part of a program that addressed both the business and the challenges of being a woman,” she shared.
Similar sentiments were shared by Olga Yanda, the founder of Wazi Eats, a food system that supports local communities and improves the incomes of street vendors.
According to Yanda, “access to money is difficult and very competitive.”
“I am one of the competitors who won, but there are more women who need this kind of help and support. That is why programs such as Revvup need to be supported,” she explained.
According to AfriLabs, RevvUp-supported ventures have created 2,426 jobs to date. Some, like V’s Vitalife, a Cameroonian organic wellness brand, are scaling into international markets like France and the U.S.
Beyond Revvup, other women-centred incubator and support initiatives are taking root.
Some include the Her Africa Early Stage Incubator, HAESI, by the Alliance for Women and Girls (AFWAG), which, according to HAESI’s website, “empowers early-stage social entrepreneurs.”
HAESI does this by supporting women and girls with leadership skills and networking. While not directly funding them, it enhances their ability to attract resources for community impact.
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Besides, the Growth4Her Accelerator focuses on investor readiness for women entrepreneurs in West and Central Africa.
Funded by AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa), it equips women to transition to high-potential, fundable businesses, directly addressing the funding gap they often face.
Shecluded, a Nigerian incubator, equips women entrepreneurs with tools, resources, and financial support to scale their businesses. In a recent partnership with logistics multinational SGL Africa, the initiative now offers digital skills training and mentorship, explicitly focusing on empowering women-led SMEs.
Also, the Business Incubator for African Women Entrepreneurs (BIAWE), an initiative of the COMESA Federation of Women in Business, provides tailored support — both mentorship and financial assistance— to women-led SMEs across the COMESA region.
Collectively, these programs address unique challenges for African women entrepreneurs by offering tailored support, skills development, and improved access to networks and funding, fostering a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Individual women leaders are also implementing innovative solutions within their organizations.
In a past interview with bird story agency, Rwanda’s Marie Mukagahima, founder of Zima Healthy Group, a company that focuses on transforming indigenous crops into premium, nutritious products, explained how her organization is pioneering a new model when seeking financing.
Instead of chasing loans through rigid collateral requirements, she’s advocating for a shift in mindset that sees value in market traction and product demand.
“They should ask, ‘Who will buy your products?’ not ‘What do you own?’” she insisted.
In Cameroon, Angela Ngo Ndouga is revolutionizing cash flow for women-led SMEs through Yellow Factoring—a platform that transforms unpaid invoices into upfront capital.
Similarly, Angela Ngo Ndouga, the CEO of Yellow Factoring, is solving a critical liquidity challenge for women-led businesses in Cameroon.
Her platform purchases unpaid invoices from women-led SMEs, injecting immediate capital into their operations. This approach enables businesses to meet urgent needs and invest in growth.
She estimates that through this approach, she has impacted over two million people across the region.
According to Mugwanda, such innovative approaches and the ongoing push to create tailored initiatives could “at least downsize the funding gap.”
“It’s only a matter of time,” she added. “With consistency and scale, these efforts won’t go in vain—the funding gap will shrink, if not disappear entirely.”
bird story agency
