Africa’s growth story cannot be told without women. Women make up more than 50% of the continent’s population and contribute significantly to its economies, from running farms and businesses to driving innovation at the grassroots level.
Despite this, women-owned businesses continue to be excluded from mainstream finance by structural barriers such as:
- Access to finance: Persistent collateral demands exclude many women, particularly in rural areas.
- Representation gaps: Women remain underrepresented in investment decision-making roles.
- Data limitations: A lack of gender-disaggregated investment data makes it difficult to measure progress or design effective interventions.
- Policy inconsistencies: Gender-responsive laws and regulations are often weakly enforced.
Further, women entrepreneurs in Africa face a $42 billion shortfall in access to capital, while women-led funds remain underrepresented in investment portfolios.
Gender-smart investing addresses these gaps by embedding gender considerations into investment decisions, from fund design to portfolio management.
Gender-Smart Investing As A Smart Economic Strategy
Backed by studies that consistently show that companies with diverse leadership teams deliver stronger financial performance, better governance, and more resilient outcomes, the business case for gender-smart investing is clear and can be summarised as follows:
- Better returns: McKinsey estimates that advancing women’s equality could add $316 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2025.
- Stronger governance: Companies with diverse boards show improved decision-making and risk management.
- Inclusive growth: Financing women-led enterprises creates jobs, reduces poverty, and strengthens communities.
Across the continent, promising models of gender-smart investing are already emerging, which are presenting great opportunities for impact. These include:
- Women-led Funds: Dedicated capital pools, such as Gender-lens VC funds, are financing women founders and gender-diverse teams.
- Inclusive Financial Products: Banks and fintechs are designing products tailored for women entrepreneurs, from microloans to mobile-based credit scoring.
- Gender-Responsive Blended Finance: DFIs and philanthropic organizations are structuring catalytic instruments that de-risk women-led enterprises.
- Policy Initiatives: Governments are beginning to adopt gender-responsive budgeting and procurement practices to increase women’s participation in the economy.
These models show that when women are at the table as fund managers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, entire economies benefit.
Centering Gender in Capital Conversations
The 2025 AVPA Conference will explore how intentional gender-smart strategies can unlock new markets, scale inclusive solutions, and accelerate progress toward the SDGs. The gender-smart investing will feature as a cross-cutting theme across plenaries, masterclasses, and deal-focused sessions. Participants will:
- Examine case studies of funds and enterprises that are integrating gender into their strategies.
- Explore blended finance tools that de-risk gender-smart investments.
- Engage in dialogues with policymakers on scaling gender-responsive reforms.
- Connect with networks of women entrepreneurs and fund managers driving inclusive innovation.
Gender-smart investing is about accelerating growth, resilience, and transformation by aligning capital with women-led innovation. It is about correcting imbalances to unlock untapped markets, create millions of jobs, and deliver sustainable prosperity.
At AVPA, we believe that Africa’s economic future cannot be achieved without women at its center.
Join us this November in Nairobi to be part of the conversation and the action that places gender equity at the heart of Africa’s investment future.