Three African investment managers have been awarded a Visa and an AWIF grant for entrepreneurship.
The African Women Impact Fund Initiative (AWIF), a collaboration between Standard Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), has chosen three women fund managers from Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa to receive a Visa financing grant.
SME.NG (Nigeria), Altree Capital (Kenya), and Maia Capital (South Africa) have been chosen as grantees and will use the awards to fund warehouse capital for women-owned businesses across a variety of sectors.
With African women accounting for only 7.6 percent of private equity and women-led enterprises receiving only 7% of private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) in emerging markets, the prospects to close the gender gap are clear. The grant recipients were chosen through a due diligence process.
The rigorous selection criteria were in alignment with the objectives of Visa’s She’s Next programme and AWIF which are to help women-owned businesses thrive, and to support and develop women fund managers, respectively.
Also, Jenni Chamberlain, CEO of Altree Capital Kenya, and the investment manager of the Altree Kadzi Gender Climate Fund is one of the selected fund managers.