Ecobank Targets $2B for Women-Led Firms & Agribusiness by 2030

Ecobank Group has invested USD 2.6 billion through 2030 with an aim of promoting women entrepreneurship and boosting agribusiness in its African markets. The Ecobank Group CEO, Jeremy Awori, disclosed the commitment at Ecobank@40 press conference held in Lomé as Ecobank Group completes its 40th year of existence.

This new financial pledge will see USD 2 billion allocated to Ellevate, the key initiative of the bank seeking to advance business growth in order to enhance financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs through ETI, while USD 600 million will be used to support ETI’s assistance to businesses in agriculture.

Key Highlights:

• Ecobank targets a $2 billion loan portfolio for women-led businesses by 2030
• The bank allocates $600 million to agricultural SMEs and value chains by 2030
• Ellevate expands financing, digital inclusion and business support for women entrepreneurs

Based on Ecobank Group’s management, the financing commitment is anchored to provide support services that can help create a pan-African bank that will facilitate increased financial and business integration in Africa. Some of the strategic focus areas within the initiative include increasing financial access to women-owned businesses as well as developing the agribusiness environment in Africa by providing assistance along the value chain, including production and processing stages.

Through the Ellevate initiative, Ecobank’s vision is to develop a $2 billion loan portfolio targeting women-led businesses by 2030. Ecobank now seeks to increase its coverage to 400,000 formally registered companies through digital inclusion and financial inclusion activities that would generate funding options for 1 million female micro-enterprises.

To help achieve this, Ecobank seeks to increase its offerings to include working capital facilities, trade finance, and investments. Moreover, the organization intends to improve its risk-sharing agreement with development finance organizations in order to lower financing challenges for women-led businesses. Apart from capital, the recipients will be provided with non-financial assistance in areas such as business management, leadership skills, and exports.

The financing to agriculture SMEs would be done for the full “farm-to-table” ecosystem consisting of producers, aggregators, processors, logistics operators, traders, and exporters. In addition, it will support climate-smart agriculture, digital payments for rural value chains, structured trade financing, and access to regional markets via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The priorities set out by Ecobank reflect a larger change in the African finance sector with major regional and multilateral financiers investing more into resilient food systems, agricultural industrialisation and gender-sensitive finance. Access to funds will thus be a key enabler in building resilient agriculture value chains and empowering women and others underrepresented communities in economic growth.

Ecobank signed an MOU with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in May 2026 to improve access to credit for agripreneurs by leveraging the strengths of both organisations: Ecobank's reach into 34 African markets and AGRA's experience in capacity building. The cooperation pays special attention to women and young people through Value4HER and YEFFA initiatives. In addition, guarantee schemes and risk-sharing arrangements backed by development finance institutions will assist Ecobank in managing the risks of lending and at the same time increase the number of businesses accessing formal financing services.