The Ecobank Group has announced a major expansion in financing for women led businesses across Africa, revealing that loans to female entrepreneurs in the formal sector surged by 194 percent in 2025 as the bank intensified its gender focused financial initiatives.
According to figures released by the pan African banking group, Ecobank provided about 780 million dollars in loans to women owned or women led businesses in 2025, up sharply from 265 million dollars the previous year. The announcement was made during the launch of Ecobank’s Gender Programme Report as part of activities marking International Women’s Day 2026.
The bank said the sharp rise in financing reflects growing demand from women entrepreneurs as well as the impact of targeted initiatives designed to close Africa’s gender financing gap. Despite strong participation in business across the continent, women entrepreneurs continue to face major barriers in accessing capital.
Studies by global development institutions estimate that Africa faces a gender financing gap of roughly 42 billion dollars for women led small and medium sized enterprises. This gap limits the ability of many businesses run by women to scale up operations, invest in new opportunities and contribute more fully to economic growth.
Ecobank’s gender focused programmes aim to address these challenges by combining financial support with training, mentorship and access to regional markets. The bank says its approach focuses not only on providing loans but also on building the long term capacity of women entrepreneurs to grow sustainable businesses.
A central pillar of this effort is the Ellever programme, which Ecobank first launched in November 2020 during the Covid 19 crisis to support women led businesses that were heavily affected by the economic downturn. Since then the programme has evolved into one of the most geographically extensive banking initiatives dedicated to women entrepreneurs in Africa.
The bank reports that Ellever now supports more than 103000 women entrepreneurs operating in the formal sector across the continent. In 2025 the programme expanded into 26 countries across West, Central, East and Southern Africa, allowing thousands of additional entrepreneurs to access financing and business support.
As part of the expansion, more than 21000 new women entrepreneurs joined the programme’s ecosystem during 2025. In addition, over 24000 women benefited from training programmes, mentorship opportunities and other forms of non financial support aimed at strengthening business skills and leadership capacity.
Beyond financing, Ecobank also connects women led businesses to continental trade opportunities through its Single Market Trade Hub platform. The digital platform enables entrepreneurs to reach buyers and business partners in multiple African markets, helping them expand beyond their domestic economies and benefit from cross border trade.
The bank is also extending its support to women operating in the informal sector, a segment that makes up a large portion of economic activity across Africa but often lacks access to formal financial services.
In Ghana, Ecobank launched the MAMA programme in 2024 to support women entrepreneurs operating small scale or informal businesses. The initiative provides subsidised loans, tailored savings solutions and practical business management advice to women who often generate strong daily income but remain excluded from traditional bank financing due to a lack of documentation or collateral.
Through gradual financial inclusion strategies, the programme helps these entrepreneurs formalise their businesses and build financial records that can later allow them to access larger loans. Since its launch, the initiative has already integrated more than 10000 women working in the informal economy, while over 2000 women have received subsidised loans totalling more than 1.8 million dollars.
Ecobank is also mobilising new sources of capital to strengthen financing opportunities for women led businesses. In March 2025 the bank’s subsidiary in Côte d’Ivoire launched the first gender bond in the West African Economic and Monetary Union region and only the second such bond issued on the African continent.
The bond raised more than 11 billion CFA francs, approximately 18 million dollars, within just 48 hours, surpassing the initial fundraising target. Funds from the bond are expected to finance around 1200 new loans for small and medium sized enterprises owned by women across West Africa.
Jeremy Awori, Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Group, said women entrepreneurs represent one of the most powerful drivers of local economic growth across Africa but continue to face structural barriers in accessing capital.
He explained that Ecobank is working to close this gap by combining financing, capacity building and market access through its pan African platform. According to Awori, the rapid increase in loans granted to women led businesses demonstrates both the strong demand for financing and the effectiveness of initiatives such as Ellever and the gender bond in mobilising capital for female entrepreneurs.
Looking ahead, Ecobank plans to expand the enhanced version of the Ellever programme across all its markets while strengthening non financial support through digital tools, business formalisation programmes and partnerships with development finance institutions and impact investors.
The bank also intends to introduce additional financial products specifically designed to support women entrepreneurs, further reinforcing its commitment to narrowing Africa’s gender financing gap and unlocking the economic potential of women led enterprises.
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