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.
