AfDB’s AFAWA Campaign Wins Top Global Honour at 2026 Africa SABRE Awards

The award highlights the growing impact of AFAWA’s storytelling-driven campaign, which showcases how unlocking finance for women entrepreneurs is reshaping Africa’s economic future.

The African Development Bank Group’s flagship women’s finance initiative, Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), has been recognised as the best “Global Campaign” at the 2026 Africa SABRE Awards, one of the continent’s most prestigious honours for communications excellence.

The award highlights the growing impact of AFAWA’s storytelling-driven campaign, which showcases how unlocking finance for women entrepreneurs is reshaping Africa’s economic future.

The Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation and Engagement (SABRE) Awards celebrate outstanding communications, public relations and content originating from Africa, with winners selected from more than 500 entries across the continent.

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Beating Global PR Giants in a Record Field

The Africa SABRE Awards drew submissions from major international agencies including:

• Edelman

• Weber Shandwick

• FleishmanHillard

as well as leading African firms such as:

• Chain Reactions Africa

• Clockwork Digital

• APO Group

Representing clients ranging from Vodacom and Spotify to Mastercard Africa and Anglo American, the competition underscored the rising sophistication of African communications and reputation strategy.

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“AFAWA Stories” Spotlight Women Entrepreneurs Across Africa

The Bank Group’s winning campaign launched through a series of powerful “AFAWA Stories” videos, taking audiences directly into the lives of women entrepreneurs and financial partners engaged in the programme.

The campaign was amplified through AFAWA-supported events in major global and African cities, including:

• Johannesburg

• New York

• Paris

• Rabat

• Abidjan

The videos featured entrepreneurs and institutions in:

• Kenya

• Nigeria

• Democratic Republic of Congo

• Côte d’Ivoire

offering a ground-level view of how access to finance is transforming livelihoods and enterprises.

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Closing Africa’s $49 Billion Women’s Finance Gap

AFAWA is tackling an estimated $49 billion financing gap faced by women entrepreneurs across Africa, driven by structural barriers in lending, regulation and business support.

The programme focuses on:

• Scaling access to finance through commercial banks

• Advocacy for gender-affirmative policies and regulation

• Partnerships with the private sector

• Skills development, mentorship and training for women-led SMEs

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Measurable Results: Lending and Participation Surge

The campaign was not only recognised for storytelling, but also for delivering concrete outcomes. During the communications drive, AFAWA recorded:

• 44% increase in partner commercial banks signed onto the programme

• 241% increase in women entrepreneurs receiving loans or business training

• 466% increase in financing disbursed to women-led businesses

• 16% increase in the number of participating countries

Dr. Jemimah Njuki, the Bank’s Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society, said the campaign was designed to shift the banking sector’s approach.

“The goal of the AFAWA: Banking on Women campaign was to influence Africa’s commercial banking sector to unlock billions of U.S. dollars in lending to women-led businesses,” she said.

“It also helped our donors connect with the experiences of women entrepreneurs benefiting from AFAWA.”

She added: “We are thrilled that a jury of SABRE Awards peers has recognized the African Development Bank Group’s inclusive ‘one Bank’ approach to communicating these stories.”

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First SABRE Win for AfDB, Now Heading to Global Finals

This marks the African Development Bank Group’s first-ever Africa SABRE Awards win, and the AFAWA campaign will now advance to compete at the Global SABRE Awards in Miami in October 2026, where the world’s top 50 PR programmes will be honoured.

The Africa SABRE Awards ceremony will take place at the Public Relations and Communications Association South Africa Conference in Johannesburg on 17 March 2026.

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African Communications Becoming More Data-Driven

Paul Holmes, creator of the SABRE Awards, praised the continent’s evolving communications landscape.

“As always, the quality of storytelling and content creation across Africa stood out for its creativity,” Holmes said.

“It is clear that public relations campaigns in Africa are more data-driven than ever, and deliver stronger business results.”

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A Growing Track Record of Global Recognition

The Africa SABRE Award is the third major communications honour for the AFAWA campaign and contributes to the Bank’s broader international recognition, including 12 global awards for agriculture, human and social development-centred communications.

With women-led enterprises central to Africa’s growth agenda, the award reinforces AFAWA’s role not only as a financing initiative, but as a continent-wide movement for inclusive prosperity.