yher Africa invest

ygap

Supported beneficiary groups within Women & Girls

Overseas communities or charities | People in rural/regional/remote communities

Age Demographic

Adults - aged 25 to under 65

Project Focus

Economic development | Education

Project Area

International

Rural/Regional

Project Description

We work with women because promoting gender equality is one of the most effective ways to solve the most challenging social problems facing our world today.

While Africa has the highest concentration of women entrepreneurs in the world, they face many significant challenges – many of which increased due to COVID-19. The greatest challenge for women entrepreneurs is access to financial services. The African Development bank estimates a funding gap of $42 billion between male and female entrepreneurs. In 2019, only 5% of total invested capital in Africa went to women.

yher Africa Invest is a new program for ygap that builds upon our existing ‘yher’ accelerator programs. It addresses a gap we have seen first hand for women entrepreneurs over the past 10 years.

It will support a group of carefully selected African women entrepreneurs on their journey to raising suitable capital. The five participants have been chosen from the alumni participants of previous ygap programs across Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. In order to address the existing gap, the program works on both the demand and supply sides of capital supporting the entrepreneurs, whilst also working with a group of selected funders looking to strengthen their application of gender lens investing.

The program acknowledges the unique challenges that women entrepreneurs face as well as their unique investment profile

Expected Outcomes

ygap and the yher Africa team have conducted detailed research and partner scoping that led to the eventual program design of the yher invest Program. As the 2022 yher invest Program is the pilot, we have developed a theory of change for the program as well as key learning questions that we wish to address.

The program includes a:

Detailed Needs Assessment
Online Learning,
Introductions and Match-making with funders,
Six-month support phase.

At the end of the program we expect the following outcomes:

Women entrepreneurs have the tools they need to know if, and what type of, capital
is right for their business
Funders understand the needs of women entrepreneurs and how to match those needs with the types of capital they offer (or need to design)
Have addressed a gap in the market, supported a key potential growth area and helped shift
gender disparity in business

Project Data & Lessons

We will be collecting data from the program participants as per our monitoring, evaluation and learning standard across three surveys: before the program starts, after the program ends and twelve months after program completion.

The key outcomes we will be monitoring against include:

Entrepreneurs are more knowledgeable about the investment landscape, their needs as entrepreneurs, and the different financing options available to them
Entrepreneurs have an increased understanding of steps needed to get their ventures investment-ready
Entrepreneurs can more confidently navigate the investment ecosystem
Entrepreneurs have access to the right networks and relationships with potential investors and financial institutions
Entrepreneurs have raised and utilised suitable capital

After analysing the endline survey results, we will be reflecting as a team on the progress towards the outcomes and program learnings. This will then be shared with the participants as well as other stakeholders. A year after the program, we will do a similar process with the follow-up survey results and team reflection hoping to build upon this pilot and inform all of ygap's programs globally in order to increase access to capital for women-led businesses.

We work with women because promoting gender equality is one of the most effective ways to solve the most challenging social problems facing our world today.

yher Africa Invest is a new program for ygap that builds upon our existing ‘yher’ accelerator programs. It addresses a gap we have seen first hand for women entrepreneurs over the past 10 years.

The program acknowledges the unique challenges that women entrepreneurs face as well as their unique investment profile

Learn More

Project Dates

Project Commences: March 8, 2022

Project Completes: March 8, 2023

Funding Details

$22,500
Funding Needed

$68,458
Current Funding

$90,958
Total Project Costs

Approved Tax Deductability Status

Other Funding Sources
Family Offices, Individuals, Corporate partners

Other Support Opportunities
Impact investment

Organisation Details

ygap

ABN: 49133193129

ACNC Registration Link

Contact

Sarah Hornby

Email: sarah.hornby@ygap.org

About ygap

ygap is an international organisation focused on reducing inequality through entrepreneurship that is inclusive.
We believe that business can be a force for good, and that entrepreneurship is key to solving the most challenging social and environmental problems facing our world today. But for this to happen, the world’s diversity must be represented in creating these solutions and the systems that enable them to succeed.
We work with ‘missing’ entrepreneurs – key segments of the population under-represented in entrepreneurship because they face barriers to launching a business. This might be for economic or social reasons, or because of who they are or where they live.
Women, refugees and migrants, climate-focused and rural entrepreneurs are our priority.
We work directly with entrepreneurs, increasing their capacity and agency to run successful businesses. And, we also work to level the playing field for every entrepreneur by breaking down barriers and increasing access to finance, markets and support systems.
By offering the necessary support and resources, ygap strives to enable all entrepreneurs to create, launch, scale and sustain businesses that are making an impact.
Since 2008, we have run 59 programs that have supported 616 ventures – the majority led by women.

View Website

Think lens, think glasses. Glasses correct limitations of vision and enable clearer sight. And so it is with a gender lens, which helps us to see more clearly the role gender plays in shaping our male and female lives, our work, experience and choices.

Mary Crooks AO, Executive Director, Victorian Women’s Trust

Also known as Australian Women Donors Network (ABN: 28 141 197 471), Australians Investing in Women is a registered charity endorsed by the Australian Tax Office as a deductible gift recipient (DGR1) under a special listing, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.