Ecobank says it is committing $2.6 billion to financing initiatives focused on women-led businesses and agriculture, as part of efforts to expand access to funding across key sectors.
Ecobank Group has committed $2.6 billion in targeted lending to women-owned businesses and agricultural value chains across Africa by 2030, as the Pan-African banking group begins its next phase of growth after marking its 40th anniversary.
The bank announced the commitment at the Ecobank@40 Media Conference in Lomé, with $2 billion earmarked for women entrepreneurs and $600 million for agriculture-focused small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The new lending targets aim to support economic growth, food security, industrialisation and regional trade across the bank’s 34 African markets.
The Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Awori, said the commitments were part of efforts to use the conclusion of its 40th anniversary year as a launchpad for Africa’s next economic chapter.
According to him, Africa’s industrialisation requires more than financing agricultural harvests, while women entrepreneurs continue to face gaps in access to capital.
He said Ecobank would use gender-focused financing and support for food production and agricultural value chains as major drivers of African growth. Under its Elevate by Ecobank programme, the bank plans to build an outstanding loan portfolio of $2 billion for women entrepreneurs by 2030.
Ecobank said it has already supported more than 110,000 women-led enterprises and plans to increase its registered client base to 400,000 formal businesses.
Through expanded digital onboarding and financial inclusion initiatives, the bank also aims to create funding pathways for up to one million female micro-entrepreneurs across the continent.
The expanded Ellevateprogramme will provide unsecured and partially secured credit facilities, supported by partnerships with development finance institutions (DFIs) through guarantee arrangements.
The financing will focus on sectors including agribusiness, education and healthcare, according to the bank.
Ecobank is also targeting $600 million in outstanding loans to agriculture-focused SMEs by 2030 as part of efforts to strengthen food production and agricultural industrialisation across Africa.
Rather than concentrating only on seasonal farm financing, the initiative will cover the wider ‘farm-to-fork’ value chain, including farmers, aggregators, processors, logistics providers, traders and exporters.
The bank said its agricultural strategy would focus on climate-smart agriculture, digital payment channels across rural supply chains and structured trade finance.
It said the approach was designed to help reduce Africa’s dependence on food imports while strengthening regional food markets.
A key component of the strategy is the Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub, a digital marketplace connecting more than 60,000 businesses across Africa.
Through the platform and Ecobank’s pan-African payment infrastructure, women-led agribusinesses and other SMEs will be able to connect with buyers and suppliers across borders and access multi-currency payment services.
The bank said the system would also support businesses seeking to capitalise on opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Ecobank said the implementation of the commitments would focus on expanding credit and risk-sharing arrangements, strengthening cross-border trade, digitalising value chains and providing capacity-building support.
