How ANDE Is Transforming West Africa’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Women-Led Business Growth

In emerging markets, the strength of entrepreneurial ecosystems can determine whether small and growing businesses (SGBs) merely survive or scale with impact. For over a decade, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) has championed entrepreneurship as a pathway to decent work and inclusive economic growth, with gender equality embedded as a core priority. This commitment has shaped ANDE’s global approach: ensuring women-led SGBs are not only included in development efforts but also empowered to lead them.

Building on this foundation, ANDE has launched a bold strategy centered on strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems. The approach emphasizes coordination, inclusion, and data-driven learning—ensuring that the support available to SGBs is aligned, responsive, and grounded in shared insights.

This renewed focus comes at a critical moment. In Africa, women entrepreneurs face increasingly complex barriers: from trade disruptions and limited digital access to fragmented support systems across linguistic and regional lines. ANDE’s strategy recognizes that overcoming these challenges requires not just empowering individual entrepreneurs—but enabling the ecosystem actors who shape their environment: entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs), funders, investors, and accelerators.

AWA: A Digital Platform for Women Entrepreneurs in Africa

One of the most impactful outputs of the Action Lab was African Women Amplified (AWA)—a bilingual digital platform designed to expand the visibility and connectivity of women entrepreneurs across Africa. AWA directly responds to barriers identified during AGEI, including:

• Fragmented access to information and networks
• Limited digital access and skills
• Gaps in capacity-building and funding opportunities
  

To lead AWA’s development, ANDE partnered with Ashesi University in Ghana, 

selecting Jewel Thompson as project lead. Ashesi’s record in inclusive innovation and regional collaboration made it a natural fit. Under its stewardship, AWA has become a vital tool for women-led SGBs to access curated resources, funding opportunities, peer learning, and support.

AWA also exemplifies ANDE’s ecosystem strategy in action—bringing together ESOs, funders, and entrepreneurs in a shared digital space that drives visibility, collaboration, and inclusive growth.

Anchoring in ANDE’s Ecosystem Strategy

ANDE’s current strategy emphasizes improving how entrepreneurial ecosystems function—both individually and collectively. This includes:

• Enhancing connectivity and alignment among actors to reduce duplication, close service gaps, and ensure strategic resource deployment.
• Fostering communities of practice that test, learn, and scale effective support models.
• Leveraging insights and data to influence policy, funding flows, and regional collaboration.
  

Both AWA and AGEI embody this strategic shift. By co-designing locally grounded, scalable solutions and anchoring them in accessible platforms like AWA, ANDE is not just enabling women entrepreneurs—it is transforming the very systems that support them.