Africa

What does a social business do when they don’t have a rich uncle to help them go from microenterprise to a small- or medium-sized enterprises?
The answer may be crowdfunding.
Much has been made of the “missing middle” — the lack of SMEs in most developing countries — and one key, often bemoaned obstacle is a lack of financing. While still in the early stages, some organizations have turned to crowdfunding for low-cost, risk-tolerant capital to help the entrepreneurs they serve bridge the gap between microfinance and commercial lending.

Technology is one of the top sectors of choice for African women when it comes to setting up startups, according to a new survey conducted with the She Leads Africa participants.

Across Africa the informal economy plays a significant role in creating jobs and alleviating poverty. Be it in cities or rural villages, millions of people operate unregistered small-scale businesses. These entrepreneurs include small retail shop owners, taxi drivers, street vendors and artisans.But one perceived problem of the informal economy is that by its nature it is highly unregulated, and more often than not escapes taxation. Elizabeth Kariuki, executive director of the Kenya Association of Women Business Owners (KAWBO), says beyond scooping up more taxes for governments, formalising would also lead to further growth for these micro-enterprises and greater benefits for all its owners.

The 3rd African Women's Economic Empowerment Summit, held at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia, from July 24-26, 2014, has officially closed with participants calling on African Governments to make more land available to women.

The Making Finance Work for Africa Partnership is an initiative to support the development of African Financial Sectors. We are a unique platform for African governments, the private sector, and development partners to coordinate financial sector development interventions across the continent, avoiding duplication and maximizing developmental impact. 

"Financing Africa" is a landmark study on the financial sector in Africa. Using the most recent data available, it documents recent trends in Africa’s financial sectors, progress in the provision of financial services, the state of the continent’s financial services infrastructure, and the efficiency of African financial systems. It takes stock of recent changes and reviews the long-term prospects for African finance and proceeds to provide policy analysis and recommendations for policymakers, development partners, and financial institutions.

Despite the increased attention paid to and the acknowledged relevance of cross- border banking, there continues to be a lack of comprehensive research and analysis of this topic as the basis for developing a coordinated policy agenda.

GO Finance is a microfinance company that provides working capital to distributors involved in the value chains of multinational corporations that manufacture fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs). In addition GO provides access to information technology – what we call Business Intelligence – and targeted Training that assists entrepreneurs to strengthen the capacity of their businesses.