On the 6th of June, 2020 ITC Cluster and AfriConEU, as a part of the AfriConEU Networking Academy hosted an online Masterclass about ”Gender-lens Finance: Bridging the gender finance gap”.

The event started off with Ana Aleixo, Project Manager from INOVA+ introducing AfriConEU project to the participant, which was followed by two engaging presentations and a panel discussion by Eunice Baguma Bali, Digital & Gender Inclusion Consultant from ATBN and Desiree Joule-Adam, Deputy Director of Communications & Development from AWEC.

Eunice addressed the issue by showing some interesting data in her presentation proving that the gender finance gap is an existing problem both in Europe and Africa. In the past 8 years in Africa, only 3% of venture capital funding was received by female founders, while in Europe female-founded startups received 0.7% of VC funding in 2021, even less as the year before.

The presenters addressed that a systemic and structural change is needed in order to increase the number of women who are able to access funding. These changes cannot be done by individual organizations trying with quick fixes, but rather by a network of change-makers who are ready to build together long-term solutions.

To reach these systemic changes the main role of DIHs is to redesign, by using women-centered approaches and to provide support programmes that are considering gender barriers.

The event ended with a discussion among participants, where they shared their key takeaways from the Masterclass. You can find more details about the event on our Twitter.