AfDB launches AFAWA with other partners at 2019 Global Gender Summit

The 2019 Global Gender Summit, the first to be held on the continent, kicked off on Monday, November 25 in Rwanda's capital, Kigali with a strong call to surge ahead on gender issues and move from commitment to action. The 2019 Global Gender Summit is co-organized by Rwanda and the African Development Bank.

The African Development Bank's Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa programme gained momentum with significant support from commercial banks and a USD 1 million commitment from the government of Rwanda.

The African Development Bank and partners officially launched the African Development Bank's Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Risk Sharing Facility, on November 25, at a press conference held during the 2019 Global Gender Summit currently underway in Kigali.

"Today is a great day! With this facility, women will be able to receive technical assistance. We shall strengthen our capacity and we shall get there. The decision that we are taking today is highly transformational. It will permanently transform Africa," the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina opined.

The press conference was attended by Philippe Lacoste, Director of Sustainable Development, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, representing French President Emmanuel Macron, Ambassador of Netherlands to Rwanda, Matthijs Wolters, and Rwandan Minister of Finance, Uzziel Ndagijimana. Several heads of commercial banks were also in attendance.

"The government of Rwanda fully supports this initiative and is ready to work with the Bank to make AFAWA a success," Uzziel Ndagijimana cited.

AFAWA is one of the African Development Bank's (AfDB) flagship gender-focused programmes that seeks to accelerate growth and employment creation across African economies, by closing the financing gap for women. Ambassador Wolters said the Netherlands would soon announce a significant contribution to AFAWA.

The Moroccan multinational commercial Attijariwafa Bank and the African Guarantee Fund signed a USD 50 million Memorandum of Understanding to de-risk lending to women through partial guarantees.

"These agreements will allow us to give new impetus to women's entrepreneurship in Africa. Today is the first step of a long journey," Hicham Fadili, Head of Development, International Retail, Attijariwafa Bank said.

The agreement has been highly extoled by the Kennedy Uzoka President and CEO of United Bank of Africa. Signing on behalf of ECOBANK, Joséphine Anan-Ankomah, CEO of Ecobank Group, gave assurances that her bank was committed and ready to adapt its methods to help ensure women's success. "We will be there for AFAWA. Our ambition is to be the benchmark for other institutions."