Written by Adewale Sanyaolu
of The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) have announced the expansion of their ‘She Wins Africa’ program, increasing the reach of women entrepreneurs across sub-Saharan Africa from 100 to 1,000 women with capital of $4 million.
A statement from ASR Africa said the funding was announced at the recent closing event of ‘She Wins Africa’, which highlighted the very impressive and strong results recorded from the first cohort and growing organizational efforts.
The statement added that the closing ceremony followed promising early results, including more than $4 million in funding mobilized by participating women-led startups.
Over the past year, “She Wins Africa” has supported growing women-led small businesses in multiple African markets, delivering measurable results in business growth, investment readiness, and access to capital.
Marieme Niang Camara, IFC’s Senior Operations Officer and Regional Gender Hub Leader for Africa, spoke about the impact of the event’s efforts to reach 1,000 women.
The impact it has created and the kind of access to capital and markets it has given women entrepreneurs shows that this is a program worth scaling up. We are currently in the process of moving from 100 companies to 1,000 companies, and we are doing so strategically through segmentation, from startups to growth-stage and scale-up companies.
We provide customized technical assistance, investment preparation support, and direct access to capital through both our funds and IFC-backed banks. This is how we turn successful pilots into local transformation. ”
Additionally, she said the participating startups collectively raised more than $4 million, and 17 women-led companies successfully raised external funding, exceeding the program’s original goal.
Marieme explained that the program provided extensive technical assistance. This includes 123 hours of targeted technical support, 22 startups receiving personalized advisory support beyond standard training, 275 investor connections facilitated across regional and international markets, and 100 mentors mobilized across Africa. All of this is aimed at strengthening business fundamentals and investor engagement.
“This is one of the most impactful programs on the African continent that empowers women entrepreneurs. What we’re doing is not just strengthening the economies of individual countries, but the entire continent. We’ve scaled up from 100 women in 23 countries in the first phase to 1,000 women across Africa, and the number of women entrepreneurs is growing.” Country and Beneficiaries.
This expansion will create a more sustainable impact and expand the geographic reach of the program. We gained valuable learnings from the first phase and are applying those insights to ensure the success of this second phase. By supporting this initiative, ASR Africa is contributing to business growth, job creation and strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem. ”
Ubon further said that IFC and ASR Africa’s collaboration on the She Wins Africa project prompted ASR Africa to review its mentorship programs designed to support young women entrepreneurs across the continent. Also noteworthy is the hybrid approach. ‘She Wins Africa’ will provide access to knowledge and capital to women-led businesses, which is the foundation of Phase 1’s success.
He said ‘She Wins African’ will offer added value such as business coaching, masterclasses and investment readiness training to enable founders to strengthen their operations, refine their business models and improve their ability to attract private capital.
He added that a core pillar of ‘She Wins Africa’ is the use of catalytic finance to help focus private investment in women-led businesses.
Ubon said the program, in collaboration with regional and local investment partners such as Octerra Capital, IMEX, Sahel Capital, Nubia Capital and Convergence Advisory, helped mobilize nearly $400,000 in subsequent investments through an initial catalytic grant line of approximately $100,000.
These funds will support startups in making critical operational investments such as expanding production capacity, strengthening infrastructure and hiring additional staff, while reducing risk for investors and accelerating business growth, he said.
“The first cohort consisted of women-led startups at various stages of development, from early-stage ventures to more established companies. This comprehensive approach allows for stage-based support throughout their entrepreneurial journey, strengthening our pipeline of investment-ready businesses.”
Through targeted investment readiness support, investor engagement and strategic partnerships, She Wins Africa has demonstrated the value of a tailored approach to addressing the funding gap faced by women entrepreneurs.
This expansion phase is the first of four projects originally envisioned under the ‘She Wins Africa’ umbrella, and the scale-up will significantly expand the scope and potential impact of the program. This expansion will deepen our regional reach, strengthen our investment pipeline, and increase access to capital and technical expertise for women entrepreneurs.
IFC and ASR Africa say the next phase will continue to support early-stage companies, prioritizing ventures that can scale, building a stronger and more resilient pipeline of women-led companies, and fostering inclusive economic growth across Africa.
