Nearly 300 participants gathered in Kigali, Rwanda for the 2025 Annual Summit, united by a shared commitment to unlocking the transformative potential of women-owned and women-led businesses.
Under the theme “Accelerating Enabling Ecosystems for Female Entrepreneurs,” the two-day event brought together banking leaders, policymakers, and ecosystem enablers to share proven strategies and innovative approaches that are driving measurable impact for women and economies.
Discussions demonstrated the maturity and sophistication of institutions’ approaches to serving Women’s Markets. Speakers shared a common understanding of how to drive impact through data-backed design, collaborative partnerships, and propositions that address women’s life moments and business formality, turnover, and business stage for female entrepreneurs. Here are five key take-aways:
1) Cashflow based lending essential to unblocking debt finance to Africa’s women entrepreneurs. KCB Bank’s journey from women making up just 9% of MSME borrowers in 2016 to 34% in 2025 illustrates this evolution. During the same period, the bank’s Net Promoter Score improved from -2 to 70, reflecting the success of cashflow-based lending in combination with range of non-financial supports (timely and relevant information, training, and support for women’s investment clubs) offered under the “FLAME” sub-brand for WMSMEs. Likewise, Centenary Bank’s “Supa Woman” sub-brand offers a comprehensive value proposition to support women’s business growth, and its cash-flow based lending has enabled it to reach entrepreneurs at all levels of the market.
2) Gender bonds mobilizing funding for WMSME portfolios. While still relatively new, the gender bonds market has reached USD $116 billion already issued globally. NMB Tanzania’s first gender bond was 197% oversubscribed, demonstrating strong investor appetite when proper frameworks are established. Interestingly, 48% of subscribers were women, proving that women invest in women when given opportunities to do so.
3) Non-financial services achieving sustainability through strategic partnerships and tiered pricing models. UK-based Digital Boost sustains its online mentorship model through corporate partners (including Alliance member NatWest) who fund services in exchange for market insights and employee skill-building opportunities. It has so far reached 30,000 mentees and 5,000 volunteer mentors who value the opportunity to give back and build coaching skills. African Management Institute offers non-financial services to entrepreneurs based on tiered pricing, as does Rwanda based Business Professional Network. These Africa-based Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) are demonstrating a clear willingness to pay from entrepreneurs, an important lesson in today’s precarious funding environment.
4) Fast-growth entrepreneurship requires finance appropriate to business stage. Start-up founders shared that while they value “thought partners” who can think through strategic decisions collaboratively, they also feel there is too much coaching and insufficient funding available. Finance must be affordable and tailored (like start-up grants and low-interest loans vs. equity funding at the early stages). Funds can intentionally facilitate the pipeline from early-stage loans to VC fundings. For example, Village Capital’s Abaca tool helps founders understand what type of capital is appropriate for their stage and uses peer review for equity investment decisions, achieving 25% higher representation of women entrepreneurs compared to traditional Angel and Venture selection processes.
5) Mature Women’s Markets Programs driving loyalty with life moments strategy. Structuring programs around women’s “life moments” (education for themselves/children, health, housing, retirement, dealing with financial abuse), allows for more empathetic, relevant, and holistic service delivery. For example: AXA Mansard Nigeria’s research-driven approach to maternal care coverage addresses specific gaps like NICU coverage and postpartum mental health support. Nedbank’s financial abuse protections use “money warnings” and partnerships with trusted community organizations, demonstrating recognition of the sensitivity of the issue. Banco BHD focuses on education and supports parents through specialized savings products, flexible credit, insurance, and financial education programs integrated with schools and universities.
The fascinating conversations in Kigali revealed that the most sophisticated institutions are no longer asking whether to serve women entrepreneurs, but rather how to refine their approaches for maximum impact and sustainability.
See more valuable takeaways from all the excellent Summit panels:
