The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced that it is expected to provide around $500 million to support women in agriculture in Africa. It will provide $150 million out of the total amount by the end of 2021.
In a statement, it stated that the fund will assist women in agriculture to collaborate with private and public sectors to develop alternative financial models to enhance women farmers’ abilities to access the skills and finances required to grow sustainability.
The banks added that Indeed, “in Sub Saharan Africa, the funding gap for African women in the agricultural value chain is around $15.6 billion as women play a vital role in agribusiness and agriculture and require more robust and responsive regulatory and policy frameworks for countries to benefit from their contributions. “
“Providing access to finance for women-owned small and medium enterprises in Africa is an important component of the Bank’s strategy to establish a conducive business environment for women entrepreneurs to thrive.”
“Providing access to finance for women-owned small and medium enterprises in Africa is an important component of the Bank’s strategy.”
The Bank, through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative, has committed up to US$5 billion to finance women’s businesses on the continent by 2026.
“This is showing positive results already. For instance, in Ghana, the AFAWA Financing Climate-Resilient Agricultural Practices project worth $20 million will benefit 400 women-led micro, small and medium enterprises via a line of credit resilient from Ecobank Ghana. The support also comes along with training and technical assistance in climate-resilient agricultural practices.”
Dr. Beth Dunford, the bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human, and Social Development spoke in Rome during the pre-summit to the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit where he stressed that it is important to close the gender gap in economic opportunities on the continent for its future.
He said that to empower women, and for African countries, iris important to close the gap in economic opportunities, specifically for GDP growth, structural transformation for sustainable development, and poverty reduction. The bank will provide a road map for gender interventions in the next four years, to focus on the agricultural sector, where women can have the most entrepreneurial potential.
Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced that the African Development Bank (AfDB) has agreed to support Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), especially technology-based ones with US$500 million in Nigeria.
