The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) have announced a major expansion of the She Wins Africa program, scaling its support from 100 to 1,000 women entrepreneurs across sub-Saharan Africa.
The announcement came during the program’s closing event for its inaugural cohort in Lagos, following a successful pilot year that delivered impressive results. Participating women-led startups collectively mobilized more than $4 million in external financing, with 17 enterprises securing investments—surpassing initial targets.
Over the past year, the initiative provided comprehensive support to women-led small and growing businesses, including 123 hours of targeted technical assistance, tailored advisory for 22 startups, 275 investor connections across regional and international markets, and mobilization of 100 mentors continent-wide. Additional offerings featured business coaching, masterclasses, and investment-readiness training to refine models, strengthen operations, and boost capital attraction.
A key feature was the use of catalytic funding: an initial grant envelope of about $100,000 helped crowd in nearly $400,000 in follow-on private investment through partners such as Octerra Capital, IMEX, Sahel Capital, Nubia Capital, and Convergence Advisory. These resources enabled startups to expand production, upgrade infrastructure, hire staff, and accelerate growth while de-risking for investors.
The first cohort included women-led ventures at various stages—from early-stage to more established—allowing tailored assistance across the entrepreneurial journey and building a stronger pipeline of investment-ready businesses.
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Marieme Niang Camara, IFC’s Regional Gender Lead for Africa, highlighted the pilot’s success: “When we started with 100 women entrepreneurs, it was a successful pilot, but we realized that 100 is just the beginning for a region like Africa… Now we’re moving from 100 to 1,000, and we’re doing it strategically through segmentation, from startups to growth-stage and scale-up companies. We’re offering tailored technical assistance, investment readiness support, and direct access to capital through both funds and IFC-backed banks. This is how we turn pilot success into regional transformation.”
Ubon Udoh, Managing Director and CEO of ASR Africa, emphasized the broader impact: “This is one of the most impactful programs on the continent, empowering women entrepreneurs… We’re scaling up from the first phase of 100 women from 23 countries to 1,000 women across Africa, with an increase in both the number of countries and beneficiaries. This expansion will create a more sustainable impact and extend the program’s geographical reach.”
