Access to finance for women-owned/led early-stage businesses

Addressing barriers faced by women entrepreneurs in accessing funding 

Produced within the framework of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) “Investing in Young Businesses in Africa” (IYBA), this report aims to provide a framework to address barriers faced by women entrepreneurs according to each business stage, along with concrete recommendations.  

Matching social and economic perspectives

Addressing access to funding for women entrepreneurs is not only a moral imperative and part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SDG 5 on gender equality, it is also good for business, as it contributes to ing additional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. In addition, women-owned/led tech companies achieve higher investment returns and higher revenues with less capital globally compared to those owned/led by men. Moreover, among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), women-owned and led businesses consistently show higher loan repayment rates.

This report addresses the unique challenges women face in securing funding at different business stages. It notes that women are more prevalent in early business stages and face varying barriers to funding and technical assistance. The focus is on enhancing support in the initial stages to increase women's presence in Series A and B funding, aligning with global funding trends towards these later stages.

Leveraging on existing tools and experiences 

With this report, the TEI IYBA aims to feed the discussion on possible tools to be adopted to create a more supportive and inclusive financial ecosystem for women-owned/led early-stage businesses. 
It details how ecosystem stakeholders can address this critical challenge, especially by adapting financial vehicles, working with the right partners, providing the right technical assistance, and performing monitoring and due-diligence processes.