The African Union Commission’s Women, Gender, and Youth Directorate, in partnership with the Sterling One Foundation and supported by GIZ, has rallied high-level public and private sector leaders to accelerate financial and economic inclusion for African women and youth.
According to a statement on Wednesday, the partners gathered the stakeholders to unlock solutions to persistent financing gaps affecting women and young people on the African continent.
The convening was done on the platform of the Women and Youth Financial and Economic Inclusion Initiative, a key initiative of the African Women’s Decade on Financial and Economic Inclusion of African Women 2020-2030, which was launched in 2022.
The high-level convening, which was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through the GIZ African Union Portfolio, focused on mobilising private sector capital and expertise.
It emphasised the crucial role of the private sector in unlocking $100bn to support at least 10 million women and youth in Africa by 2030 as part of the WYFEI 2030.
The dialogue focused on how private actors can design gender- and youth-responsive financial products and services, build market infrastructure and data systems that make underserved entrepreneurs bankable, and provide technical support and business development services to help women- and youth-led enterprises scale.
Director of the Women, Gender, and Youth Directorate at the African Union Commission, Ms. Prudence Ngwenya, set the scene by stressing the need for systemic reform, stating, “A fundamental shift is needed to place women and youth at the centre of resource allocation, policy-making, and accountability”.
Ms. Ngwenya emphasised that “The private sector is not a guest at this table but a co-owner of the agenda, with WYFEI 2030 designed for co-investment, innovation, and scale to move from isolated impact to ecosystem change.”
Echoing this statement, the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One
Foundation, Ms. Olapeju Ibekwe, said, “Inclusion cannot be rhetoric. Women and youth are not peripheral to Africa’s economy. Any agenda that sidelines them is simply incomplete.”
Reaffirming that “Every day, capital doesn’t reach them; opportunity is withheld from the continent,” Ibekwe added that “partnerships must move beyond alignment and toward shared execution that reflects the realities of Africa’s investment landscape.”
Director of GIZ African Union, Dr. Tobias Thiel, also highlighted the systemic barriers limiting financial inclusion for women and youth, emphasising that addressing these challenges is “both a moral and economic imperative.”
He called on stakeholders to “move forward together, with boldness and resolve, to create an Africa where opportunity is truly equal and potential is limitless,” reaffirming GIZ’s support for the AU’s WYFEI 2030 Initiative.
During the convening, a panel discussion featuring public and private sector actors explored ways private capital can be mobilised to deliver inclusive outcomes. The conversation focused on the structural changes needed to scale early-stage investment into underserved markets, from deal origination to data collection.
The meeting also featured the introduction of the EmpowerHer Africa initiative by Deputy Director of Partnerships at UNICEF, Dr. Nadi Albino.
This programme aims to create pathways for 50 million adolescent girls and young women across Africa to access financing, technology, and entrepreneurial resources through the WYFEI 2030 Initiative, empowering the next generation of women leaders and innovators.
