Women entrepreneurs in Togo are set to benefit from a new financing and support programme backed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the AXIAN Group. Announced on September 2, 2026, the initiative aims to support women-owned businesses across five African countries: Togo, Senegal, Tanzania, Comoros and Madagascar. The programme is supported by the AfDB’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi). It seeks to address one of the main challenges facing women entrepreneurs across the continent: limited access to finance and business development opportunities.
Finance and digital solutions for small businesses
The first component of the programme will provide tailored digital financial products and services to 34,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). This initial phase will focus on Madagascar, Tanzania and Senegal, with the aim of improving access to financial services for businesses that are often underserved by traditional banking institutions.
The second component will focus directly on women entrepreneurs. Around 25,000 women are expected to receive training in financial literacy, digital skills and entrepreneurship. This phase will cover Togo and the Comoros, in addition to the countries involved in the first component.
Closing the financing gap
Erwan Gelebart, CEO of AXIAN Digibank and Fintech, said the programme was designed to address barriers that continue to limit the growth of women-led businesses. “Across Africa, millions of women are already running successful businesses. The challenge is not entrepreneurial spirit, but access to finance, digital tools and growth opportunities,” he said.
The programme will rely on mobile money services, digital lending solutions and alternative credit-scoring mechanisms to reach women entrepreneurs who have traditionally had limited access to conventional financial systems, according to the AfDB.
For Togo, the initiative could provide additional opportunities for women-owned businesses to strengthen their financial and digital capabilities while gaining access to tools aimed at supporting their growth.
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