Gender-inclusive finance in Africa has made clear strides in recent years, but the picture remains uneven. According to Carol Oyedeji, Group Head of Commercial Banking at Ecobank, the past decade has seen a meaningful expansion in access, driven largely by mobile money, digital financial services and increased lending. Millions more women are now part of the formal financial system, and institutions have begun to treat gender not as a peripheral concern but as a defined business segment.<\/p>\n
Yet progress in access has outpaced outcomes. Women play a central role in Africa’s economy, accounting for close to 60% of the self-employed and demonstrating some of the highest rates of entrepreneurship globally. Despite this, they continue to receive only a fraction of formal financing, with an estimated US$42bn gap across the continent.<\/p>\n
While more women now hold bank accounts, far fewer are able to secure the growth capital needed to scale their businesses or integrate into formal value chains.<\/p>\n
For Oyedeji, the conversation is now moving beyond inclusion towards utilisation and scale. The challenge is no longer simply bringing women into the financial system, but ensuring that the system works in a way that supports business expansion, asset accumulation and long-term economic participation.<\/p>\n
The roots of the financing gap, she argues, are structural rather than behavioural. Women entrepreneurs are highly active across Africa, but their businesses are often smaller and less formal, lacking the documentation and collateral required by traditional banking models. This creates a disconnect between economic activity and financial visibility.<\/p>\n
Collateral remains a significant barrier, particularly in markets where women have limited ownership of land or other assets. But deeper constraints also persist. Women are frequently underrepresented in formal supply chains, limiting their ability to generate the scale and consistency of revenues that lenders typically require. Access to networks, information and markets is also weaker, shaping how businesses grow over time.<\/p>\n
A large proportion of women operate within the informal economy, creating what Oyedeji describes as a data gap rather than a credit gap.<\/p>\n
Many of these enterprises generate strong cash flows but remain invisible to formal finance due to a lack of records. At the same time, the cost of borrowing remains high, as lenders price smaller businesses for risk without fully recognising the relatively strong repayment behaviour often demonstrated by women borrowers.<\/p>\n
Three pillars<\/p>\n
For Ecobank, this gap represents a core banking opportunity. Oyedeji explains that the bank has restructured its approach around three pillars: tailored financial products, ecosystem support and pan-African market access.<\/p>\n
Its Ellevate programme reflects this shift, combining collateral-light lending with pricing incentives, alongside training, mentoring and trade connectivity. The result has been strong growth in lending, underscoring the latent demand that exists when structural barriers are addressed in tandem.<\/p>\n
Historically, banks did not necessarily misunderstand women entrepreneurs, she suggests, but rather applied uniform models to a highly diverse market. Traditional frameworks were built around formal, asset-backed businesses, leaving many women-led enterprises outside their scope.<\/p>\n
What is changing now is a move from product-led thinking to segment-led design, recognising women as a large and commercially viable customer base that requires tailored solutions across risk, distribution and engagement.<\/p>\n
There is also growing recognition that finance alone is insufficient. Evidence increasingly shows that combining capital with capability building and market access leads to more sustainable outcomes.<\/p>\n
Advances in alternative data, digital payments and ecosystem partnerships are helping banks to better understand and serve this segment, shifting perceptions away from risk and towards opportunity.<\/p>\n
This thinking underpins the design of Ellevate, which takes an ecosystem approach rather than focusing solely on lending. The programme aims to move beyond financing activity to financing progression. It supports businesses in moving up the value chain, offering not only working capital but also trade finance, cross-border payments and access to regional supply chains. Through platforms such as the Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub, businesses are connected to demand across multiple markets.<\/p>\n
Another priority is addressing the so-called ‘missing middle’ in growth capital. While many women entrepreneurs can access microfinance, far fewer are able to secure the larger, structured financing needed to expand capacity and invest in assets. By easing collateral constraints and providing more flexible funding, Ellevate seeks to bridge this gap.<\/p>\n
Formalisation and financial visibility are also central to the model. By integrating digital payments, savings and financial records, the programme helps businesses build the track record required to access larger pools of capital and participate more fully in the formal economy.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Ecobank is expanding into savings, insurance and wealth products tailored to women entrepreneurs, with the aim of ensuring that growth translates into long-term financial resilience.<\/p>\n
Mutual reinforcment<\/p>\n
In practice, Oyedeji emphasises, finance, training and market access are mutually reinforcing. Capital enables investment, but without the skills to deploy it effectively, its impact is limited. Training strengthens financial management and operational efficiency, particularly for businesses transitioning from informal to more structured models. Market access, meanwhile, provides the platform for scale, connecting firms to customers, suppliers and partners beyond their domestic markets.<\/p>\n
The combined effect can be transformative. Ellevate has already supported more than 100,000 women, alongside a significant increase in lending volumes, demonstrating how integrated support can alter business trajectories.<\/p>\n
Scaling such a programme across multiple African markets has highlighted both commonalities and differences. While the core constraints faced by women entrepreneurs are broadly consistent, their expression varies depending on regulatory environments, sector composition and levels of financial inclusion. A pan-African platform allows for consistency in design while retaining the flexibility to adapt to local contexts.<\/p>\n
Crucially, Oyedeji notes, scaling has confirmed that demand is not the limiting factor. Where products are aligned with real business needs, uptake is strong and performance is robust.<\/p>\n
This is where pan-African institutions such as Ecobank can play a distinctive role. Operating across multiple markets enables them to mobilise and deploy capital at scale, while also providing the infrastructure that underpins business growth. Cross-border payments, trade finance and regional connectivity are particularly important for SMEs seeking to expand beyond domestic markets.<\/p>\n
In the context of gender finance, this connectivity is especially valuable. Women-led businesses are often concentrated in sectors such as trade, services and agriculture, all of which benefit directly from regional integration. By linking these enterprises to markets and capital across borders, regional banks can help close not only the financing gap but also the growth gap.<\/p>\n
Capital markets are also expected to play an increasingly important role. Oyedeji points to Ecobank’s gender bond in C\u00f4te d’Ivoire as a sign of what is possible. The US$18.2m issuance was fully subscribed within 48 hours and is supporting nearly 1,200 women-owned SMEs.<\/p>\n
More broadly, it demonstrates that women-led businesses can be positioned as a credible investment asset class, rather than a niche segment.<\/p>\n
While gender bonds currently represent only a small share of the global sustainable finance market, the potential for expansion is significant. A wider range of instruments, including gender-linked facilities, blended finance vehicles and sector-focused funds, could help channel institutional capital into areas where women are already economically active but underfinanced.<\/p>\n
Reaching the informal sector remains a critical frontier. This requires new approaches to risk assessment and engagement, with a focus on building financial visibility through digital transactions, savings and data. Gradual pathways to formalisation, combined with tailored advisory support, can help businesses transition at a sustainable pace.<\/p>\n
Programmes such as MAMA in Ghana illustrate this approach, combining structured credit, savings discipline and advisory services to support women traders and small business owners. Early results suggest strong repayment behaviour and growing uptake, reinforcing the case for scaling such models.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Oyedeji argues that success will ultimately be measured not by participation rates but by economic outcomes. The key question is whether more women-led businesses are able to scale, integrate into value chains and build lasting financial resilience.<\/p>\n
Achieving this will require deeper access to larger, more structured financing, stronger integration into regional markets and greater mobilisation of capital, particularly through institutional investors and capital markets. It will also depend on improved data and measurement, ensuring that progress is tracked in terms of business growth and broader economic impact.<\/p>\n
Closing the gender financing gap, she concludes, is not simply about inclusion. It is about unlocking productivity, competitiveness and growth across Africa’s economies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gender-inclusive finance in Africa has made clear strides in recent years, but the picture remains uneven. According to Carol Oyedeji, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[41,42,44,43,45],"class_list":["post-24545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy-finance","tag-economy","tag-finance","tag-market","tag-stocks","tag-trades"],"yoast_head":"\n