Advancing Innovation, Financial Inclusion and Sustainable Finance.
FSD Africa
We help make finance work for Africa's future. Funded by UK International Development from the UK government.
February has been a month of impactful collaborations and forward momentum in advancing financial inclusion, climate resilience, and sustainable development across Africa. This roundup highlights our key engagements, from exploring deeper partnerships between the UK and Kenya's financial sectors through the roundtable by the UK Minister for Africa, Lord Collins of Highbury, to fostering green and sustainable investments at the Africa Green Economy Summit. Our participation in high-level forums such as the Finance in Common Summit underscores our commitment to shaping policies and partnerships that promote financial resilience.
Our focus remains on leveraging innovation, data-driven solutions and strategic alliances to create a more inclusive and sustainable financial ecosystem. These efforts align with our mission of Making Finance Work for Africa’s Future and ensuring long-term economic growth.
UK-Kenya financial sector roundtable
UK Minister for Africa, Lord Collins held a roundtable on the UK's role in supporting financial markets development and economic growth in Kenya. The discussions focused on addressing challenges and unlocking opportunities to deepen ties between the two nations. With the robust UK-Kenya strategic partnership already driving mutual economic benefits, this exchange highlighted the shared commitment to fostering innovation, investment, and inclusive development. Insights from the conversation will directly shape the UK’s upcoming 5-month consultation with African stakeholders, ensuring strategies align with local priorities and global ambitions.
Accelerating nature finance for global impact: #FiCS2025
At Finance in Commons Summit 2025’s session - Nature and Biodiversity: Delivering Investments and Finance at Scale, global leaders prioritised closing the $700B biodiversity funding gap by treating nature as vital infrastructure—restoring ecosystems like mangroves boosts climate resilience and economies. Key solutions included biodiversity credits, natural capital valuation and aligning finance with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. FSD Africa’s Nature Finance & TNFD lead Dorothy Maseke ,CFIRM joined calls for Africa to lead nature-positive finance through partnerships and innovation.
ONCF issues USD 200m Green Bond
Groupe ONCF , Morocco's state-owned railway company recently issued a US$ 200 million green bond to refinance projects focused on low-carbon transport development. As part of this initiative, FSD Africa collaborated with Morningstar Sustainalytics and CDG Capital to review the project's eligibility for financing through the ONCF Green Bond 2025. This green bond marks a significant step in advancing Morocco's low-carbon transport infrastructure and FSD Africa’s support in the process highlights our ongoing commitment to fostering sustainable finance in Africa.
Insights from the FSD Network Gender Conference 2025
The 2-day session brought together thought leaders and partners to learn from the various strategies they have implemented to advance gender inclusion in the financial sector. Key learnings included addressing barriers in women’s health finance, using alternative data for credit scoring and leveraging AI to improve financial access. The conference also emphasised the importance of women’s leadership and integrating gender perspectives into digital infrastructure and policy design to foster more inclusive financial ecosystems.
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What’s on offer?
Tanzania early-stage climate adaptation venture landscape report
The Tanzania Early-Stage Climate Adaptation Venture Landscape Report, conducted by FSD Africa and Climate KIC , offers a comprehensive analysis of the financing ecosystem for climate adaptation initiatives in Tanzania. This report explores the challenges and opportunities within Tanzania’s emerging adaptation economy, offering valuable insights into the financing landscape for adaptation start-ups at various stages of development in a least-developed country. It also highlights key interventions that could help unlock additional funding for these enterprises.
Nature stress test: Assessing exposure of five African banking systems
Africa’s economy and the livelihoods of its people are intertwined with the vitality of its natural ecosystems—some of the most biodiverse in the world. The continent is also reliant on sectors that depend heavily on natural ecosystem services, such as agriculture and tourism. These sectors are critical to economic development as they provide employment and livelihoods for a large share of the population. This report aims to provide a fact base for how nature-related risks are relevant and material to financial regulators and private financial institutions. It covers both microeconomic and macroeconomic considerations and explores how an enabling environment could accelerate action from the private financial sector to manage nature-related risks and opportunities.
Talks on Nature - A Podcast by ANCA is a platform where thought leaders, policymakers, and innovators discuss the most pressing environmental and sustainability challenges and opportunities facing Africa today. Produced by the African Natural Capital Alliance , the podcast highlights cutting-edge strategies, nature-based solutions and financial innovations driving the continent toward a nature-positive future.
Episode 5 - In this episode, we discuss the role of private finance in addressing climate challenges and supporting nature-based solutions, with a special focus on Africa’s natural capital. Dia delves deeper into how institutions like the DFC are mobilizing private capital to drive climate action and biodiversity conservation.
BCP Attawfiq Gender Bond
Women in Morocco face social and economic barriers that limit their financial participation, including low incomes, restricted asset ownership, and cultural norms reinforcing economic dependence. To address this, BCP launched Morocco’s first Gender Bond in partnership with Attawfiq Micro-Finance, raising approximately USD 25 million through a private placement. Supported by FSD Africa and Autorité Marocaine du Marché des Capitaux (AMMC) , this groundbreaking initiative positioned Banque Populaire du Maroc (Groupe) Inc as the first African institution to issue such a bond. The funds enabled Attawfiq to provide women with microloans and non-financial services like financial literacy training, leadership workshops, and networking opportunities, empowering them economically and personally.
Saglan Wajee Hospital
Saglan Wajee General Hospital in Holeta, Oromia, is transforming healthcare access in rural Ethiopia as the country’s first full-fledged health insurance provider. Supported by FSD Africa’s BimaLab Insurtech Accelerator, the hospital launched Efoy, an affordable micro-health insurance product for low- and middle-income families. BimaLab provided venture-building support and facilitated key connections, including with the National Bank of Ethiopia, which had not issued health insurance licenses for 14 years. Since its launch, Efoy has grown from 1,200 customers in its first year to an expanded Efoy 2.0, now offering tailored coverage for chronic patients, families and individuals.
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Wow, BimaLab Africa Accelerator?Programme sounds like a great opportunity. We hope you received a great pool of candidates!