“We have to change the narrative around climate change in Africa,” said Sarah Rukundo, General Manager at Westerwelle Startup Haus Kigali. Rukundo and her team are working to raise awareness about the urgency of climate change and elevate African women entrepreneurs as key solution providers. “Women are not encouraged to become innovators,” said Rukundo. “We are trying to change this cultural stigma by empowering women with the tools and opportunities they need to scale their ideas into sustainable green businesses."

In September, USAID CATALYZE joined in a half-day event with USAID INVEST and the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Gender Equality Initiative, to discuss critical challenges and opportunities related to fostering women’s economic growth through entrepreneurship, and in particular, improved access to finance for women-owned small- to medium-sized enterprises (W-SMEs).

During Bpeace’s session at the 2022 ANDE Annual Conference, participants discussed the obstacles they and the businesses they work with face when implementing climate-forward policies and practices.

It’s no secret that women entrepreneurs face significant challenges in building their businesses. And it is costing them, with an estimated $1.7 trillion financing gap for women-owned, small, and medium enterprises (W-SMEs). But it’s not just limiting the entrepreneurs themselves – it’s costing society too. When women are empowered economically, they invest back into their families and communities, creating broader prosperity.

This is the first post in a jointly produced three-part blog series entitled, “What’s Working in Supporting Women’s Entrepreneurship?” produced from the discussions at the September 12th learning event hosted by ANDE. Collectively, this series covers the sectors’ success stories and how to recreate their structures to shift purposeful investment into what works, fostering women’s economic growth, and affirming their indispensable role in economic development.