In a significant move to close Africa’s gender financing gap, Ecobank, the leading pan-African financial services group, has announced major enhancements to its award-winning gender-financing solution, ‘Ellevate by Ecobank’.
The expansion strengthens Ecobank’s commitment to empowering women-owned, women-led, and women-focused businesses, while reinforcing its market competitiveness.
The World Bank estimates that bridging the gender gap in Africa could add $2.5 trillion to the continent’s GDP by 2025, highlighting the critical need to invest in women entrepreneurs.
Recognizing this potential, Ecobank’s upgraded Ellevate programme adopts a more ambitious and inclusive approach, extending beyond new and existing Commercial Banking customers to encompass Consumer Banking and Corporate Banking customers.
Additionally, female business leaders will have access to Corporate Banking customers as a mentorship resource. With these enhancements, both formal and informal women entrepreneurs can now fully benefit from the programme’s comprehensive financial and non-financial solutions.
Jeremy Awori, Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Group, stated:
“We recognise and applaud the role that women entrepreneurs play in driving socio-economic impact across Africa and are committed to supporting them at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey. Since the launch of the Ellevate programme, we have made significant progress, disbursing over US$200 million in loans, providing business networking opportunities, and offering leadership and capacity-building training for businesswomen.”
Awori further highlighted that “Ellevate 2.0 heralds in a new era for gender financing. It is bigger, better, and more inclusive, delivering exceptional value to female entrepreneurs and women business leaders.
Enhancing our products and solutions for women entrepreneurs to position Ecobank as their bank of choice is an integral component in accelerating the success of our Growth, Transformation, and Returns strategy. It also aligns with our Group-wide objective of promoting gender equality and contributing to sustainable development.”
Enhanced Benefits of Ellevate 2.0
The upgraded Ellevate programme introduces several key benefits designed to further empower women entrepreneurs:
- Improved access to finance with unsecured loans of up to US$50,000
- Competitive interest rates and more favourable collateral requirements
- Flexible eligibility criteria, accommodating businesses with a two-year track record instead of the industry-standard three years
- Expansion opportunities through Ecobank’s MyTradeHub online matchmaking platform, helping entrepreneurs find new customers and access new markets across Africa
- Capacity-building support, including training, webinars, and mentorship opportunities to enhance business and leadership skills
- Customised wealth management services for financial growth and security
- A one-stop shop for insurance needs, ensuring comprehensive coverage for businesses
- Exclusive rewards and discounts through a loyalty programme available at select retail stores and recreation centres
Strategic Launch Across Africa
Coinciding with International Women’s Day celebrations, the enhanced Ellevate programme will be launched in nine African countries—Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Senegal, Togo, and Zimbabwe—by the end of March 2025. Following this initial rollout, Ecobank plans a phased expansion across all its sub-Saharan African affiliates throughout the year.
Through these enhancements, Ecobank reaffirms its commitment to fostering financial inclusion and economic empowerment for Africa’s women entrepreneurs, paving the way for a more prosperous and equitable future.
