Empowering Women. Transforming Communities.
Africa has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship in the world (24%), with 194 million women entrepreneurs driving commerce, creating jobs, and holding communities together. Yet these same women face a financing gap of nearly $50 billion (approximately $49 billion according to the African Development Bank), a market failure so profound that it has pushed the continent's path to economic parity from 120 years to approximately 170 years.
The issue is not ability. It is access.
Despite generating exceptional returns, with a non-performing loan rate averaging just 2.4%, lower than most national banking systems, women-led businesses remain systematically locked out of the capital they need to grow.
This is not a problem of ability or ambition; it is a problem of access. It is the woman in Nairobi who cannot secure a loan to expand her shop, the salon owner in Kampala who lacks the capital to formalize her business, the young woman in Harare who drops out of school because she cannot afford sanitary towels.
Building the economic future of women.
We are powering African communities to build the economic future of women.
From access to agency.
Overall Goal
Women and girls from marginalized communities are empowered to exercise leadership, participate equally in social, political, and economic life, and access resources.
Strategic Objective
Empower women and girls in marginalized communities to lead, participate in decision-making, access resources, and challenge social norms that limit their agency.
Long-Term Outcome
Women and girls from marginalized communities actively engage in leadership roles, make informed decisions, influence local policies, and gain equitable access to economic, social, and political resources.
Programmes designed for real barriers.
Keep a Girl in School Project
Provide free sanitary towels, personal care products, and disseminate information on menstruation and mental health.
Salon Entrepreneurs Skilling Program
Equip women with business management, customer care, transformative leadership, and digital marketing skills.
Financial Access
Establish a tailored line of credit for salonists through MESACCO.
Business Incubation
Design a Women Entrepreneurship Mentorship Programme linking established entrepreneurs with upcoming ones.
Annual African Women Entrepreneurs Summit
Convene women in the entrepreneur ecosystem across 7 focus countries.
Sub-grants
Provide grants to community groups, NGOs, CBOs, and social enterprises implementing gender equality programmes.
Empowerment you can measure.
Improved Economic Security
Trained and equipped 5,000 salonists through a 2023 - 2024 partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, with 70% being women, fostering financial independence.
Income & Business Formalization
Provided tools to trainees to formalize operations, improve customer retention, and grow revenue for small business owners.
Annual Training
Over 2,000 individuals trained annually through the Salon Entrepreneurs Skilling Program.
Enhanced Financial Resilience
Established MESACCO (Movit Savings and Credit Cooperative), one of Uganda’s fastest-growing credit and cooperative societies, now open to the public to scale up women’s empowerment programmes.