The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a new Gender Equality Trust Fund (GETF) aimed at pushing forward gender equality and women empowerment across the continent.
Funded by donors, the GETF will support the delivery and scale-up of the Bank's Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) programme and promote gender transformative lending and non-lending operations. It is the first thematic fund on gender in the Bank Group's history. The Fund would be established for an initial period of 10 years.
AFAWA is the Bank's flagship pan-African initiative which aims to bridge the $42 billion financing gap facing women in Africa.
"It's a great day for us as a Bank. It is a great day for the continent and the women of Africa as this facility provides innovative ways to tackle the access to finance challenges for African women business owners," said African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina.
