Across the continent, women are holding up entire industries, from township stalls to tech startups, from rural agriculture to green infrastructure. They are building, selling, creating jobs, and sustaining livelihoods. But there is a disconnect: while women are powering Africa’s economies, they’re largely locked out of the capital needed to scale their work.

That’s not just a gap; it is a structural fault line holding back Africa’s growth.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs in the world. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, one in four women (25.9%) is starting or managing a business. And they’re not just doing it for themselves: women reinvest up to 90% of their income back into their families and communities, compared to just 40% for men. It is not only a multiplier effect, but a strategy for building resilient economies.

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