Towards a Gender-Transformative Climate Finance Roadmap: An Ecosystem Approach to Inclusive, Equitable, and Transformative Change for Women Climate Entrepreneurs

Climate change and gender inequality are among the world’s most pressing and complex development challenges. While each is separately dangerous and consequential; together, they pose a significant threat to people all over the world.

Women and girls in particular face higher risks and greater hardships from the impacts of climate change, which are compounded by issues such as poverty, conflict, financial crises and global health emergencies, like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women are also catalysts for innovative solutions to tackle climate change. However, their underrepresentation in decision-making processes and labour markets means that women are prevented from fully contributing to climate-related planning, policy-making and implementation.

A New Roadmap Toward Inclusion in Climate Finance

Recently, WUSC joined partners in celebrating the development of a new roadmap for climate finance and marked the culmination of a unique project at the intersection of climate finance and gender implemented by a consortium of partners including ANDE and AKFC and generously funded by Global Affairs Canada.

This roadmap presents a way forward for achieving gender-transformative climate finance in sub-Saharan Africa. The roadmap builds on research carried out between 2021 and 2022 in consultation with over 150 individuals (predominantly women) who are active in entrepreneurial and climate finance ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa.

The purpose of the Roadmap is to present recommendations to donors on how to facilitate women climate entrepreneurs’ access to appropriate climate finance, contributing to greater equality and inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa while advancing innovative and transformative women-led climate solutions.

Launching the Roadmap: In Conversation with Women Climate Entrepreneurs, Capacity-Builders, and Donors

At the launch of the Roadmap, we heard from women climate entrepreneurs, Sabiha Rashid, founder of Rosho Nut Butters, and Diana Mbogo, founder of Millennium Engineers, who discussed some of the obstacles they face in developing and growing their businesses such as access to capital, policy barriers and gender bias, among others.

They were joined by a diverse group of intermediaries and capacity-builders from across the globe including Zioni Makawa (Kawjo Foundation in Malawi), Judith Li (Westerwelle in Rwanda), Marko Hogervorst (PFAN in Austria), and Ebenezer Arthur (Wangara Green Ventures in Ghana). The participants highlighted the importance of strengthening coordination amongst ecosystems and donors to better support women climate entrepreneurs. They also discussed the mismatch between the kinds of investment products being offered by investors and donors and the needs and capacities of women entrepreneurs.

Watch the event recording to learn more about the obstacles and solutions to greater inclusion and gender equality in climate entrepreneurship!

Read the Roadmap report here.