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THE European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced a US$1,1 billion lending programme to help women entrepreneurs on the African continent.

EIB vice president, Mr Ambroise Fayolle, also revealed during the 2019 Africa Investment Forum, which began on Monday and ended yesterday in Johannesburg, South Africa, that the bank has signed three further agreements to boost sustainable development on the continent.

But the major deal is what the EIB has dubbed “SheInvest”, a gender-lending initiative that the bank expects to allow women to play a more active role in economies. “This initiative aims to promote female entrepreneurship,” said Mr Fayolle, noting that female entrepreneurs will also gain business skills from the initiative.

He explained that the financing will promote gender investment related to climate change and is part of broader European engagement to provide targeted support for new investment that supports increased female economic participation in Africa. The announcement was made at the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, where hundreds of investors, development partners and wealth funds gathered for the continent’s premier marketplace.

The EIB is the lending arm of the European Union. It has supported investment in Africa for more than 50 years and last year, it provided a record €3,3 billion to African countries, with more than half the funds being pumped into the private sector. As one of the largest providers of climate finance, the investment bank has also struck a deal with Guinea-based telecommunications provider, IPT PowerTech Group, which will see the company abandon fossil fuels for cleaner sources of power such as solar and wind.

A further deal that was signed on the first day of the second Africa Investment Forum, will see African Trade Insurance increase its membership in Western and Southern Africa. This increased insurance coverage is expected to attract more investment to the continent.

In Southern Africa the EIB confirmed a new lending programme to support access to finance by entrepreneurs across Malawi and confirmed a new scheme to finance smallholders in the country to be launched early next year. The Africa Investment Forum inaugural edition was launched in 2018 in partnership with Africa50, AfreximBank Bank, the Trade Development Bank, the

Development Bank of South Africa, the Islamic Development Bank, the Africa Finance Corporation and the European Investment Bank.