African Guarantee Fund (AGF) and Women’s World Banking (WWB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen support for women entrepreneurs across Africa. This partnership underscores both organizations’ commitment to advancing women’s economic empowerment through increased access to finance, technical support, and advocacy initiatives.

AGF, a leading pan-African guarantee and capacity development provider, works to bridge the SME financing gap by offering risk-sharing mechanisms and capacity development assistance to financial institutions. WWB is a global NGO & investor dedicated to advancing financial inclusion for the 700 million women excluded from the formal financial sector. For over 45 years, they have partnered with financial institutions and policymakers to design, develop, and implement solutions that drive systemic change for women.

Through this partnership, AGF and WWB will collaborate on initiatives designed to:

-Expand access to credit for women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through tailored guaranteed solutions.

-Deliver training and capacity building for financial service providers (FSPs) to strengthen their ability to serve women-owned/led businesses.

-Provide technical assistance and mentorship to women entrepreneurs, enhancing their business resilience and growth.

-Advocate for policies and practices that drive gender-inclusive finance across Africa.

In his remarks, AGF Group CEO, Jules Ngankam, emphasized the importance of women entrepreneurs to Africa’s growth. “Women entrepreneurs represent one of the continent’s greatest untapped resources, yet they face a significant funding gap of USD 42 billion. This new partnership with WWB allows us to combine our strengths to break these barriers and create a more inclusive financial ecosystem for women-led businesses in Africa,” said Jules.

Speaking about the partnership, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking, said “We are delighted to formalize this collaboration with AGF, which combines our deep expertise in designing financial products and solutions for women with their powerful pan-African footprint and guarantee solutions. By leveraging our respective strengths in capacity building, technical assistance, and de-risking financial institutions, we will unlock significant capital for women-led MSMEs leading to jobs being created and fostering economic growth for all. This MOU establishes a framework to replicate and scale impactful, gender-inclusive models, and we look forward to realizing this shared vision with AGF.”

The partnership will also pave the way for replicating and scaling successful models across AGF’s footprint in 44 African countries, amplifying the impact on women-owned businesses continent-wide.