The closing event, held on February 5, 2026, at the Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, marked the end of a year-long pilot that supported 100 women-led businesses from 23 countries. 

Backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, in partnership with ASR Africa, women-led businesses in the first cohort mobilised more than $4 million in financing. 

Seventeen startups secured external funding, exceeding the original target set at the start of the program.

Founders from different stages, including early-stage startups and more established companies, participated in the first cohort.

Support focused on technical training, business coaching, mentorship and direct introductions to investors, with founders receiving over 120 hours of targeted technical support, more than 270 investor connections were facilitated, and about 100 mentors were involved across the continent. 

A smaller group of startups received additional advisory support beyond the standard training structure.

Speaking at the event, Marieme Niang Camara, IFC’s regional gender lead for Africa, said the pilot provided enough results to justify expansion.

“When we started with 100 women entrepreneurs, it was a successful pilot, but we realised that 100 is just the beginning for a region like Africa,” she said. 

“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.”

The initiative, built on readiness, focused on gaps faced by women founders, especially at the point where businesses move from early traction to engaging investors.

She Wins Africa leveraged catalytic grants of about $100,000 to reduce risk for private investors and this helped attract nearly $400,000 in follow-on investment from regional partners, including Octerra Capital, IMEX, Sahel Capital and Nubia Capital.

ASR Africa’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ubon Udoh, said the expansion reveals lessons from the first phase.

“We’re scaling up from the first phase of 100 women from 23 countries to 1,000 women across Africa,” he said. “This expansion will create more sustainable impact and extend the program’s geographical reach.”

Several founders shared their experiences at the closing event, revealing how the programme helped their business move from operating locally to preparing for cross-border growth, while improving internal planning and investor readiness. 

Mentorship and investor exposure also changed how they negotiated and positioned their company.

The next phase will prioritise businesses that are ready to scale, while still supporting early-stage founders. The expansion is the first of four projects planned under the She Wins Africa platform.

IFC noted that the programme aligns with its focus on private sector growth and women’s economic participation across Africa. 

ASR Africa, on the other hand, will continue to support the initiative as part of its work in economic and social development on the continent.

The closing event formally closed the pilot phase, but partners said the focus now shifts to onboarding a much larger group of women entrepreneurs and building on the results already recorded.

The selected women will participate in comprehensive interventions that will strengthen their companies’ investment readiness, include advice and mentorship, and provide access to potential investors, industry leaders, and peers through matchmaking and pitching opportunities across Africa. The initiative is a part of IFC’s broader commitment to promote gender equality and empower women entrepreneurs in emerging markets.

The 100 participants announced today were drawn from almost 3,000 applicants comprised of women entrepreneurs across Africa in sectors ranging from ag-tech, climate-tech, e-commerce, ed-tech, health-tech and fintech etc.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of female entrepreneurs globally, with approximately 26% of female adults involved in entrepreneurial activity.

However according to a 2021 World Bank report, women founders in Africa receive only about three percent of start-up finance.

In addition to the investment-readiness program for the 100 selected participants, She Wins Africa will roll out other initiatives, including:

• a bootcamp to help lead 200 pre-seed women-led startups into acceleration phase,
• an initiative to open up acceleration support for an additional 200 women-led startups in areas where such support is not easily available; and
• a program to create a coalition of funds, venture capital firms and gender-lens investors to improve access to finance for women and their businesses across Africa.

“IFC’s She Wins Africa empowers women entrepreneurs through coaching, training, and financing, accelerating their growth and investment readiness throughout sub-Saharan Africa, said Nathalie Akon Gabala, director of Gender and Economic Inclusion at IFC. “It’s time for investors to step up and fund women. A strong entrepreneurship ecosystem benefits us all.”

Today’s announcement follows the launch of the She Wins Africa program at the Africa CEO Forum in Côte D’Ivoire in 2023.

She Wins Africa is the second initiative of its kind, following IFC’s She Wins Arabia program which has supported 170 women entrepreneurs and more than 35 Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) in North Africa and the Middle East since 2021.

More about IFC

• IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets.
• The organisation works in more than 100 countries, using its capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries.
• In fiscal year 2023, IFC committed a record $43.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises.