In Focus: Some resources for women entrepreneurs in Togo like schemes, initiatives & funding
#WomenEntrepreneurs #TogoBusiness #AfricaRising #EmpowerWomen #SheLeadsAfrica #BusinessGrowth #ResilientWomen #GlobalEntrepreneurs #HerBusinessHerFuture
Africa shows some of the highest rates of female entrepreneurship, substantially higher than male entrepreneurship. And Togo, officially known as “The Togolese Republic”, is one of the African nations, where women’s entrepreneurial spirit shines most brightly. In fact, women in Togo engage in entrepreneurship at rates higher than men, a reality that reflects both resilience and ambition. Yet, their journeys are not without hurdles -limited access to resources, training & finance often hold them back from scaling their ideas into sustainable ventures. Despite these challenges, recent initiatives have shown that even modest, targeted interventions can spark transformative change.
Balancing Challenges with Innovation
One such example is the innovative training approach introduced in Togo, which focuses less on teaching basic commercial skills and more on cultivating proactive behaviors – encouraging women to take initiative, act strategically, and persevere through obstacles. The results have been striking: women entrepreneurs who underwent this training reported an average 40 percent increase in profits. Many expanded their businesses beyond imagination, like one Togolese woman who went from renting out wedding dresses to owning boutiques across three countries. This success story underscores the power of equipping women with tools that build confidence, foresight, and adaptability.
Women in Togo Building Resilient, Scalable Businesses
Beyond training, small businesses in Togo are increasingly adopting better financial practices – keeping records, opening bank accounts, and boosting productivity. These improvements not only enhance resilience in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but also strengthen competitiveness in global markets. While Togo still grapples with gender inequality and limited infrastructure, its women entrepreneurs continue to prove that with the right resources, vision, and support, they can drive both personal and national economic transformation.
Let us now focus our attention on some resources that are available for women entrepreneurs here – like schemes, initiatives and funds.
- Nana Tech Programme
It is clear that Togo actively supports women entrepreneurs, specially with the launch of the Nana Tech Programme in June 2024, which provides digital skills training to young female entrepreneurs. This initiative aims to empower women in the digital economy. It is inspired by the legendary Togolese businesswomen known as “Nana Benz” in the 1970s and 80s, who successfully dominated the textile trade, highlighting Togolese women’s historical business acumen. Initially, the programme aims to empower 1,500 women to become key players in the country’s digital transformation.
The objective is – To provide young female entrepreneurs with digital skills necessary to thrive in the digital age.
The Focus is on –Training participants in digital professions, leveraging new technologies to advance businesses and improve performance.
The Nana Tech Programme aligns with the Togolese government’s broader ambition – to identify and promote female talent in the education & information technology sectors. This government initiative aims to empower women to become significant contributors to Togo’s evolving digital economy.
- Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) Programme
The Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) programme is an initiative jointly supported by the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), and the German Development agency GIZ (E4D programme). Running the growth and acceleration programs of WE4A is the Swiss Association for Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets (SAFEEM).
It is focused on empowering underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa comprising of women, youth & the informal sector.
- The virtual Acceleration Programme
The virtual Acceleration Programme, implemented by SAFEEM, seeks to provide 100 female entrepreneurs from the TEF alumni network, with access to €10.000 in grant funding that will be paired with 3 months of technical support.
The Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) II is a partnership between TEF, the EU and GIZ and is part of the Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Women Entrepreneurship for Africa programme (IYBA-WE4A). The programme targets women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Senegal, Cameroon & Togo. Target sectors include sustainable agriculture, blue economy, renewable energy, circular economy, waste management and eco-tourism. Selected entrepreneurs receive the TEF business management training, green economy and digital inclusion training, mentorship and a non-refundable seed-funding grant of USD 5,000.
https://safeem.org/women-entrepreneurship-4-africa
- The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi)
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) supports women entrepreneurs – by encouraging access to financial products and services, building capacity, expanding networks, offering mentors, and providing opportunities to link with domestic and global markets.
They believe in women as change agents and drivers of economic growth.
We-Fi, founded in October 2017, harnesses the public & private sectors to open new doors for women entrepreneurs across the developing world. With funding of $354 million from 14 governments, this collaborative partnership among governments, multilateral development banks, and other stakeholders – has been designed to unlock financing for women-led/owned businesses in developing countries, including in the most challenging environments. We-Fi supports women entrepreneurs by giving access to finance, markets, networks and mentors and information. It is also assisting governments in creating enabling environments for women in business.
- AFAWA Finance Series – designed by AFDB & AGF
African Guarantee Fund and the African Development Bank are behind the AFAWA Finance Series Togo, which aimed at promoting a better understanding of the financing needs of Togolese women entrepreneurs and debunking the myth that women-run companies are risky ventures. They strengthen access to women entrepreneurs to finance through the AFAWA Finance Series.
The objective of the series was – to better understand the needs of women entrepreneurs and collectively address the challenges they face in terms of access to funding, while exploring the opportunities offered by the Guarantee for Growth programme, designed by the African Development Bank Group through the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), and implemented by the AGF. This innovative programme – aims to make up to $3 billion available for women-led small and medium-sized enterprises, via guarantees to financial institutions to mitigate lending risks.
The AFAWA Finance Series is part of a series of events organized across Africa – to promote access to finance for businesses run or owned by women. It represents a considerable step towards accomplishing the ambitious goal of funding women-led businesses to the tune of $5 billion by 2026.
Following the conference that was held to promote this, specific training on gender finance was provided to about 30 Togolese financial institutions, with training courses that helped to enhance understanding of the AFAWA initiative and its ‘guarantee’ mechanism.
The African Development Bank, through the AFAWA initiative, has approved approximately $1.7 billion in cumulative investments and $54.5 million in technical assistance, and has partnered with 96 financial institutions in 32 regional member countries. Over 7,000 women-led small and medium-sized enterprises have now reaped the benefits of its support in Africa.
AFAWA is supported by the Women Enterpreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), the G7 countries of France, Italy, Canada and Germany, as well as the Netherlands and Sweden.
https://africanguaranteefund.com/3394-2
- 50 Million African Women Speaking Programme (50 MAWSP) – AfDB’s platform for women entrepreneurs
On March 18, 2021 Togo launched the 50 Million African Women Speaking Programme (50 MAWSP). This is a professional social network for women entrepreneurs.
According to the AfDB which is behind the project – it aims to contribute to the economic empowerment of women by providing a networking platform that will allow them to access information on financial and non-financial services. More specifically, the project aims to build a platform to improve the capacities of women entrepreneurs to work in a network, share information, and have better access to financial services. The Togolese ministry for social action, women empowerment, and alphabetization has also invested in the project.
The network concerned should regroup millions of women from three regional economic communities, knowingly the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the East African Community (EAC). The latter -EAC – is in charge of coordinating the project’s implementation.
- Project for Supporting Young Men and Women Entrepreneurs in Job-Creating Value Chains (PAJEC)
On February 24, 2025, Togo launched the Project for Supporting Young Men and Women Entrepreneurs in Job-Creating Value Chains (PAJEC), with a budget of 28 billion CFA (approximately $46 million).
Funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Togolese government, the program aims to support SMEs in key sectors such as agribusiness, transport, and logistics. Over five years, it plans to integrate 9,230 SMEs into value chains and improve access to finance, markets, and skills.
- WIDU.africa
WIDU.africa is a project commissioned by German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Gmbh, launched in Togo in 2020. The programme aims to optimize diaspora remittances for the development of existing and newly created micro and small enterprises in any sector and making grants available for these small businesses to grow.
Together with WIDU, Togolese people living in one of the 27 member states of the European Union, in Switzerland or in Norway, can support their friends or family in their entrepreneurial activities through an innovative and digital approach. In concrete terms, each entrepreneur in Togo sponsored by a relative living in one of the 27 member states of the EU, in Switzerland or in Norway, can obtain a grant from WIDU of up to EUR 3,000 for their first application and up to EUR 5,000 for the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Additional to the financial support, entrepreneurs can benefit from 3 personalized coaching sessions.
- SEPHIS Foundation
The SEPHIS Foundation aims to mobilize CFA1 billion to support 125 women-led SMEs in Togo. Séphora Kodjo, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, reaffirmed this goal during a meeting with Prime Minister Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé on April 4, 2025.
Kodjo stated that various packages, ranging from five to a hundred million CFA, will be allocated through partnerships with the African Guarantee Fund and Ecobank. These funds will address key needs such as business structuring, technical assistance, and access to credit.
This initiative follows a partnership agreement signed with the Ecobank Foundation months earlier. Beyond financing, SEPHIS plans to help businesses access new markets by placing their products in supermarkets.
Active in Togo since 2018, SEPHIS supports women’s leadership through conferences, training programs, and mentorship. Charlotte Guézéré leads local efforts for the foundation. To date, SEPHIS has distributed over €2 million to women entrepreneurs across Togo, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire.
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