A quarterly dialogue series advancing women entrepreneurs and leaders across Africa and beyond — from awareness to action.
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EmpowerHER is a quarterly dialogue series that moves beyond awareness to produce actionable outcomes — policy recommendations, partnerships, and investment opportunities that strengthen women's economic participation locally and globally.
We create spaces where women entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors can speak with authority — and be heard by those with the power to act.
EmpowerHER bridges silos across sectors, geographies, and disciplines — turning isolated conversations into cross-sector relationships that drive change.
Every dialogue produces tangible outputs: policy recommendations, investment opportunities, and partnerships that translate insight into measurable impact.
EmpowerHER Dialogue
2026
Access to Finance
A cross-sector dialogue exploring innovative financial instruments, gender-lens investing, and policy reforms that remove barriers for women-led SMEs across Africa. Participants will include investors, policymakers, and women entrepreneurs to co-create actionable recommendations.
Despite growing evidence that gender-diverse businesses outperform peers, women-led enterprises in Africa receive less than 3% of venture capital. We examine why — and what it will take to change.
Dr. Aisha Mohammed
February 10, 2026
Getting women online is necessary but not sufficient. The real transformation happens when women move from consumers of digital platforms to owners of them.
Amara Diallo
January 28, 2026
New research from Lagos Business School identifies five structural factors — not individual deficits — that explain why women entrepreneurs in West Africa face a $12 billion financing shortfall.
Dr. Ngozi Adeyemi
December 15, 2025
This policy brief translates findings from the Q1 2026 EmpowerHER Dialogue on women and the digital economy into eight concrete policy recommendations for African governments seeking to increase women's ownership and leadership in the digital sector.
Key Finding
“Women-led tech startups in Africa are 3x more likely to fail in the first year due to lack of networks and mentorship”
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Policy Recommendations
The EmpowerHER Dialogue was unlike any policy forum I have attended. We did not just discuss the problem — we left with a co-signed action plan and genuine commitments. Six months later, two of those commitments are being implemented.
Minister Amina Ouedraogo
Minister of Women Affairs · Government of Burkina Faso
I came as a skeptic — another talk-shop, I thought. But the quality of participants, the structured facilitation, and the commitment to producing real outputs changed my view. EmpowerHER is the dialogue format the continent has been waiting for.
Jerome Osei
Managing Director · Osei Capital Partners
The policy brief that came out of the Q2 Dialogue landed directly in our Finance Ministry. It shaped the gender provisions in our latest SME credit guarantee scheme. This is what evidence-based advocacy looks like.
Dr. Kemi Adeola
Senior Economic Advisor · Nigerian Presidency
African Development Bank
UN Women Africa
Mastercard Foundation
GIZ
Tony Elumelu Foundation
Convergence Finance
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