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AXIAN, a pan-African infrastructure and services group operating in 21 countries and the African Development Bank have launched a programme aimed at expanding access to finance, digital tools and business support for more than 34,000 women-led enterprises across five African countries.
Supported by the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), the programme seeks to address the persistent financing gap facing women-owned businesses across the continent.
Erwan Gelebart, CEO of AXIAN Digibank and Fintech said, “Across Africa, millions of women are already running successful businesses. The challenge is not entrepreneurship. It is access to finance, to digital tools and to opportunities for growth.Through Mixx and MVola, we are using technology and financial innovation to support women entrepreneurs in building stronger businesses, creating jobs and participating more fully in the digital economy. This programme is about unlocking opportunity at scale.”
Women entrepreneurs account for the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally, but continue to face significant barriers to formal financing.
The programme will use AXIAN’s Mixx and Mvola digital financial services platforms to provide tailored financial products, digital lending, financial literacy and business development support.
The initiative includes two main components. The first will provide digital financial products and services to 34,000 women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Madagascar, Tanzania and Senegal.
The second component will provide financial literacy, digital skills and entrepreneurship training to 25,000 women across Madagascar, Tanzania, Senegal, Togo and Comoros.
The programme will use mobile money, digital lending and alternative credit assessment tools to reach women entrepreneurs who have traditionally struggled to access conventional financial services.
The initiative will focus on improving access to digital finance, developing financial products tailored to women-owned businesses, strengthening financial and digital literacy, increasing digital inclusion and helping women entrepreneurs transition into the formal economy.
Melissa Basque-Roux, Coordinator of the African Development Bank’s AFAWA initiative said, “Through AFAWA and We-Fi, the African Development Bank is pleased to support this partnership with AXIAN, Mixx and MVola. The partnership will expand tailored digital financial services, strengthen financial literacy and unlock new opportunities for women-led businesses across the continent.”
The programme builds on the African Development Bank’s existing partnership with AXIAN Telecom. In January 2025, the Bank approved a $160 million senior corporate loan to support digital connectivity and financial inclusion across nine African countries, including dedicated funding for 22,000 women entrepreneurs in Madagascar.
