Investing in women is the smartest economic decision

NAADIYA MOOSAJEE

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WE STAND at the cusp of a trillion-dollar opportunity in the continent’s green economy.

Who holds the key to unlocking this potential, driving innovative solutions for energy poverty, and building resilient businesses? Women entrepreneurs. They outperform, they build lean, capital-efficient companies, and their solutions are born from lived experience.

However, there's a staggering $42 billion funding gap for African SMEs, the “missing middle’, and female-led businesses are disproportionately trapped within it. In the high-stakes world of climate finance, the collective deaf ear of the investment community is actively sabotaging Africa’s future.

Our new WomHub report, “Demand-driven capital: Powering Female Innovators in Africa's Green Economy’, lays the stark truth bare: investors are looking the other way, leaving money on the table and delaying critical progress.

The data is an indictment of a biased system. Startups with a woman at the helm globally generate 63% higher returns over a decade. Female-founded companies deliver 35% higher returns on investment overall. They are, quite simply, better bets. In Africa, where women own 40% of SMEs and contribute up to $300 billion to GDP annually, this advantage is magnified.