Onyinyechi Favour O
Since its inception in 2022, the Women and Youth Financial and Economic Inclusion
(WYFEI 2030) Initiative, a key initiative of the African Women’s Decade on Financial
and Economic Inclusion of African Women 2020-2030 , has created multi-stakeholder
platforms to advance targeted financial inclusion strategies for African women and
youth.
A recently concluded high-level convening, organized by the African Union
Commission Women, Gender and Youth Directorate in partnership with the Sterling One Foundation and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the GIZ African Union Portfolio, focused on mobilizing private sector capital and expertise.
The high-level meeting sought to unlock solutions to persistent financing gaps affecting women and young people.
Held in advance of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS 2025), the convening
emphasized the crucial role of the private sector in unlocking USD 100 billion to support
at least ten 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.
Ms. Prudence Nonkululeko Ngwenya, Director of the Women, Gender and Youth
Directorate at the African Union Commission, set the scene by stressing the need for
systemic reform.
She stated that “A fundamental shift is needed to place women and
youth at the center of resource allocation, policy-making, and accountability”. Ms.
Ngwenya further emphasized 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, Ms. Olapeju Ibekwe, Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One
Foundation, underscored that “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.”
Ms. Ibekwe added that, “Partnerships must move beyond alignment and
toward shared execution that reflects the realities of Africa’s investment landscape.”
Dr. Tobias Thiel, Director of GIZ African Union, also highlighted the systemic barriers
limiting financial inclusion for women and youth, emphasizing 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 mobilized 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 Dr.
Nadi Albino, Deputy Director of Partnerships at UNICEF.
This transformative program
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.
This dialogue marks the start of a series of coordinated engagements led by the African
Union Commission’s Women, Gender, and Youth Directorate, with the Sterling One
Foundation anchoring public–private conversations across the continent.
These engagements aim to mobilize strategic partnerships, unlock innovative financing
solutions, and align private-sector action with continental priorities to remove systemic
barriers to women’s and youth’s economic inclusion.
Through sustained collaboration,
these dialogues are set to generate scalable solutions and measurable progress toward
Africa’s inclusive economic transformation.
