Champions of the Female Economy Awards 2025

The Alliance is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Champions of the Female Economy Awards, announced at the Annual Summit 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda. These well-deserving awardees stood out among our 100 members for the impressive strides they’ve made in key areas in the past year.

As demonstrated by their data, they’ve made exceptional strides in reaching more under-banked women, increasing financing to female entrepreneurs, and delivering non-financial services that contribute massively to women’s business success. These outstanding financial institutions from across the globe have demonstrated exceptional commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs, professionals, and heads of household. Congratulations to all our champions who are leading the way in building inclusive financial systems that enable women to thrive.

ACCESS TO FINANCE CHAMPION

City Bank, PLC, Bangladesh

For significantly improving women’s representation in its portfolio with impressive year-on-year growth in women customers served across key segments.

IMPACT CHAMPION

Banco Pichincha, Ecuador

For outstanding impact on women-owned MSMEs, providing more than $1.7B in financing to the segment in 2024 alone.

NON-FINANCIAL SERVICES CHAMPION

Kenya Commercial Bank, Kenya

For supporting more than 100,000 women with essential financial literacy, business enablement, and networking services.

DIGITAL INNOVATION CHAMPION

NMB Bank PLC, Tanzania

For innovative use of digital financial services to improve women’s access to savings, lending, and investment banking solutions.

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP CHAMPION

Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Pakistan

For impressive strides in improving women’s representation at the middle and senior management levels.

GENDER DATA CHAMPION

BRAC Bank, Bangladesh

For exemplary gender data collection practices and comprehensive analysis submitted to this year’s Female Economy Analytics Survey.

ENGAGEMENT CHAMPION

Banco BHD, Dominican Republic

For contributing invaluable expertise as speakers and mentors in the Alliance’s peer learning programs throughout the past year.

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTOR

Access to Finance Rwanda

For significant contributions to our global network, including hosting our first-ever Summit on the African continent.

CHANGEMAKER AWARD

Nadia Al Saeed, CEO of Bank al Etihad

For outstanding work promoting the Female Economy throughout her distinguished career, from overseeing Bank al Etihad’s market-leading ‘Shorouq’ Women’s Markets program to galvanizing support for Jordan’s WE Finance Code.