No Women - No Future: Female Entrepreneurs as a Business Case

Just in time for the publication of the?Feminist Foreign Policy of the German Foreign Office?and the?Feminist Development Strategy of the?German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development?on March 1 and for International Women's Day today, we dedicate our current newsletter to the topic of Gender Equality, precisely to the great potential that #femalefounders have for economic growth on the African continent.?

"No Women - No Future"?was the title of our discussion in cooperation with Agentur für Wirtschaft und Entwicklung with women entrepreneurs, bankers and Ministry representatives. Equality in access to capital plays a crucial role, consequently?"Access to Finance for a Just Development"?was the logical subtitle.?

We wanted to know what obstacles women have to overcome in setting up their own businesses, and what particular challenges they face in accessing finances and investments. Together with our audience guests, we discussed with? Christiane Laibach , Member of the Board of KfW Development Bank,? Pauline Koelbl , Gender Lens Investor of ShEquity and AfriProspect ,?Leago Takalani, NewSpace Founder and CEO of Luvhone Engineering and Consulting Partners and? Benjamin Knoedler , Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) representative responsible for cooperation with the private sector. The debate was moderated by the founder of multiple companies, including Founderland ,? Deborah Choi . In addition,? Aya Chebbi , the leading head behind the Nala Feminist Collective ,?delivered a message via video.

On the young continent, the startup scene is growing faster than anywhere else in the world. But when women leave the sphere of traditional "female" jobs, banks and investors have little faith in them. This is not only grossly discriminatory, but also detrimental to the national economy, because female entrepreneurs can boost productivity by 25 percent. Thus, it's not a question of moral perspectives; rather, women's access to capital is a social responsibility.?Far from charity, investments in women entrepreneurs form a stone-cold calculated business case.?The two female?entrepreneurs at the table prove how successful the business can be, but also how tough.?

To make the local financial market work for women, money must be channeled in a targeted way.?This requires more women in the financial sector and among investors.?Development banks, and other multilateral development institutions can act as catalysts to break the vicious cycle that gives women a lower score in banks' risk assessments and thus less or no capital. KfW has launched several programs to address this.?Gender lens investment is in demand,?which is aimed specifically at women, and incentivizing investments to women. With its new Africa strategy, the BMZ wants to double investments in start-ups by women.?

We let the protagonists of the evening speak for themselves.?Listen and watch their arguments in the videos, and read the key lessons and take-aways from the discussion.

In?our latest episode?of?The Africa Roundtable?podcast, we spoke with Feminist Foreign Policy specialist? Kristina Lunz of?and Ugandan-British writer?Jennifer Makumbi?about feminism and the importance of women's role in business and politics.?Jennifer Makumbi's book?"The First Woman"?has also recently been published in German.

We will continue to closely follow the?role of women in development and especially in business?- as we have done in the past years. We are curious to see what effect the new German foreign and development policy will have on this sector.?