AfDB, AXIAN Launch Digital Finance Programme to Support 34,000 Women-led Businesses in Africa

AXIAN Group and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have launched a major women’s financial inclusion programme to expand access to finance and business support for more than 34,000 women-led enterprises in five African countries.

Supported by the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), the programme aims to address one of the biggest constraints facing women-owned businesses in Africa – limited access to finance.

Africa has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship worldwide, yet women entrepreneurs still face an estimated $49 billion financing gap.

The programme will be implemented through AXIAN Group’s digital financial services platforms, Mixx and Mvola, which integrate digital lending, financial literacy training, business development services and digital inclusion initiatives to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses and improve their access to formal financial services.

It comprises two complementary components.

The first will provide tailored digital financial products and services to 34,000 women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Madagascar, Tanzania and Senegal.

The second will deliver financial literacy, digital skills and entrepreneurship training to 25,000 women across Madagascar, Tanzania, Senegal, Togo and Comoros.

The programme will leverage mobile money services, digital lending solutions and alternative credit assessment capabilities to reach women entrepreneurs who have traditionally been underserved by conventional financial systems.