The Empower Africa Business Platform is Now Live !!!
Standard Bank has committed $10 million to the African Women Impact Fund (AWIF), a move aimed at empowering women fund managers across Africa.
The announcement was made at the “G20 Women to Africa” event, co‑hosted by Standard Bank and South Africa’s Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in Sandton.
In her remarks, Sindisiwe Chikunga, the Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, hailed the investment as a striking example of public-private collaboration that turns dialogue into meaningful, long-term solutions.
Luvuyo Masinda, Standard Bank’s Chief Executive for Corporate & Investment Banking, emphasized the bank’s leadership role in this initiative, highlighting its commitment to channeling capital into enterprises led by women while reinforcing the role of women in fund management to catalyze broader access to finance and economic progress.
AWIF is a gender-lens investment platform initiated by the UN Economic Commission for Africa in cooperation with UN Women, the African Union Commission, and guided by the African Women Leadership Network.
Standard Bank leads the effort as principal sponsor, supported by RisCura Invest, which provides fund manager incubation and investment oversight, and MiDA Advisors, serving as strategic advisor.
Underlining the strategic importance of women managers, research from the IFC has shown that female fund managers are twice as likely to invest in women-led businesses, thereby bolstering financial inclusion for women.
Lindeka Dzedze, who heads Strategic Partnerships in Global Markets at Standard Bank and chairs AWIF, underscored the urgency of deliberate gender-focused investing.
She stated that enhancing female representation in decision-making within investment management is essential for fostering inclusive, sustainable growth.
Long-term goal: AWIF is a decade‑long initiative seeking to raise $1 billion (around R17.6 billion) to support female asset managers across Africa—who, in turn, direct capital into women-led or women-owned businesses
Current traction: To date, around $24 million has already been raised, aiding approximately 10 women fund managers via operational grants and incubation support
Investment pipeline and models: AWIF operates two complementary platforms: the Foundation, which strengthens fund managers’ infrastructure and readiness, and the Fund, which allocates capital to high-potential, women-led enterprises in sectors such as agriculture, fintech, healthcare, and education across markets including Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa
Performance expectations: The model projects a 15% internal rate of return, aiming to attract institutional interest from pension funds, family offices, and development finance institutions by offering regional diversification and manageable entry scales
Structural realities: Despite comprising over half of Africa’s population, women-led startups secured only 1.5% of total startup funding across the continent between 2019 and 2023—highlighting the gender financing gap that AWIF seeks to close
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