In Focus: Some resources like initiatives, policies & funding available for women entrepreneurs in Liberia
#AgainstAllOdds #BreakingBarriers #WomenInLiberia #SheBuildsTheFuture #EmpowerHer #LiberiaRising
Liberia is known as “The Land of Liberty”, which comes directly from the country’s name, which incidentally means “land of the free”. Here, women are the heartbeat of the economy- powering farms, markets, and small enterprises that sustain communities. Despite earning nearly 15% less than men and facing barriers to education and finance, they own over half of Liberia’s enterprises – making them vital to national growth. However, most of these ventures remain informal or small-scale, with fewer than 5% of women in formal sector jobs, reflecting deep-rooted gender and socio-economic inequalities.
Once overlooked, now unstoppable – shaping the nation’s economic rebirth
Liberia, Africa’s oldest republic, carries a proud legacy of independence and resilience. Yet, women continue to bear the brunt of poverty, hunger, and limited access to opportunity. Recognizing this, the government has embraced the empowering slogan – “What men can do, women can also do,” and has begun implementing programmes to close the gender gap. One such initiative supports young women in STEM fields, offering financial assistance to help them complete their studies and pursue careers that fuel innovation and entrepreneurship.
These efforts are already bearing fruit. Women-led ventures like Women Voices Newspaper, Liberia Women Democracy Radio, and the Women in Peace Building Network are not only creating jobs, but also amplifying women’s voices in society. So, with continued access to resources, mentorship & equitable policies, Liberia’s women entrepreneurs stand poised to drive the nation’s transformation – from post-war recovery to sustainable, inclusive development.
Let us now review some resources like initiatives, policies and funding available for women entrepreneurs in Liberia.
- UN Women’s Digital Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment (D4WEE)
To boost women economic engagement of young women through digital enablement and innovation, UN Women with support of KOICA, launched a four-year project called – Digitalization for Women Economic Empowerment (D4WEE). The D4WEE programme tries to increase economic engagement of young women (18-35 years) through digital enablement and innovation.
D4WEE actually aims to improve financial inclusion and market access for rural women through digital technology, training, and strategic partnerships.
What exactly does the Digital Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment (D4WEE) project in Liberia reveal? It demonstrates the transformative power of digital inclusion and strategic partnerships in driving economic empowerment for rural women. Spearheaded by UN Women and supported by Orange Liberia, the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, this initiative leverages technology – to improve women’s financial inclusion. Connecting women to markets, enhancing access to finance, and promoting renewable energy solutions – the project has created a sustainable model for women’s economic advancement. Through the experience involved in the lessons learned and successes achieved, it offers valuable insights for replicating this innovative approach in other regions, particularly in West and Central Africa.
UN Women’s Digital Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment (D4WEE) project in Liberia demonstrates the transformative power of digital inclusion & strategic partnerships in driving economic empowerment for rural women.
By connecting women to markets, enhancing their access to finance, and promoting renewable energy solutions, the project has created a sustainable model for women’s economic advancement.
Since the D4WEE project was launched in 2022, women in Liberia have increased their income through improved access to markets and increased agricultural productivity.
https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=115544
- Ecobank’s Ellevate 2.0
Ecobank Ellevate 2.0 is an expanded programme from Ecobank, designed to empower women entrepreneurs across Africa by providing tailored financial and non-financial support.
It provides financing, networking & mentorship specifically for women-led and women-focused businesses.
It goes beyond traditional banking – by offering a holistic platform that includes access to financing, training, mentorship, and networking opportunities to help women in both formal and informal sectors grow their businesses. The 2.0 version has broadened its scope to include more types of businesses, from individual entrepreneurs to larger corporations.
Ellevate is a specialized banking programme to support ambitious women: entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders.
https://ecobank.com/commercial-banking/ellevate
- Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme
Liberia’s Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme includes initiatives like the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB), which provides financial and non-financial services to youth aged 18-35 to build businesses. Other programmes support women’s economic empowerment by building skills in areas like business and job readiness, though some older initiatives may have been absorbed by the new YEIB. Key programmes are jointly financed by the Liberian government and the African Development Bank Group.
They offer training in areas like sewing, pastry-making, and computer literacy, along with career and life-skills coaching.
Liberia – Program for Advancing Youth Entrepreneurship Investment (PAYEI) – Project A: Liberian Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank
The Liberia Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) supports the Government of Liberia’s (GoL) 2018 to 2023 Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD). The project builds on the achievements of the Bank-financed (FAPA/TSFP-III).
The Liberia YEIB is a strong pillar of the Programme for Advancing Youth Entrepreneurship Investment (PAYEI); and it provides financial and non-financial services to the youth to start and scale their businesses by strengthening the overall entrepreneurship ecosystem and its stakeholders. They offer coherent services that will support the entrepreneurship journey of the youth. The YEIB also extends a hand to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships – to mobilize capital to invest and coordinate the delivery of financial and nonfinancial services for entrepreneurs in a systemic, structured, scalable, and sustainable manner. The YEIB will be a youth-focused institution set up to unlock finance, market access, and development services for target youth-businesses.
The overarching goal of the Project is – to strengthen financial and non-financial business service to young women and men entrepreneurs in ways that ensure inclusion, decrease vulnerabilities, and prepare for resilience and long-term sustainability of service provision.
The project aims to:
(1) Strengthen institutional stewardship and oversight of youth entrepreneurship support ecosystem; &
(2) Develop a Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) and its related entities.
https://liberiaprojects.org/activities/2010
- Startup Grind Monrovia
Startup Grind Monrovia is really the Liberia Chapter of Startup Grind. They host events and networking opportunities focused on women’s participation in entrepreneurship.
Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting more than 2,000,000 entrepreneurs in over 600 chapters. They nurture startup ecosystems in 125+ countries through events, media, and partnerships with organizations like Google for Startups.
The basis of their global community are – monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators & investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses, connect with strategic partners, and secure funding.
https://www.startupgrind.com/monrovia
- The Youth Opportunities Project (YOP)
Liberian youth have long faced high levels of unemployment and underemployment. The civil war and Ebola outbreak over the previous two decades negatively impacted economic outcomes, while the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated unemployment and hurt small businesses.
To support youth in increasing economic activity and building resilience, the Government of Liberia and the World Bank created the Youth Opportunities Project (YOP). The YOP comprised of resources that support potential entrepreneurs, including business training and a business grant for Liberian youth to start and grow their own businesses.
Successfully starting and growing a business from scratch is indeed, incredibly challenging, especially if the business is in a sector seen as culturally untraditional for the entrepreneur. This project illustrates that insights from behavioral science can lead to solutions that support youth along the journey of preparing for, opening & growing their own business.
- The Liberia Innovative Fund for Entrepreneurship (LIFE)
The Liberia Innovation Fund for Entrepreneurship (LIFE) is a private sector investment fund which focuses on developing and promoting innovations in the Liberian private sector – by investing in capital infrastructure projects that promote the growth of SMEs and promote value addition within key industrial sectors.
LIFE also provides Seed Funding to support the growth and development of industries in local communities – to provide employment opportunities to communities’ dwellers and improve their livelihood.
To this end, the LIFE Fund will initially support the construction of the 3 key centers in sectors where Liberian SMEs have a comparative advantage, if further strengthened, can lead to growth and development within the textile, rubberwood and “Made in Liberia” product sectors.
https://www.moci.gov.lr/general/liberia-innovative-fund-entrepreneurship-life
- Academy of Women Entrepreneur (AWE) in Liberia
Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) provides women entrepreneurs with the skills, resources, and networks needed to start and scale successful businesses. Through online courses and in person trainings, mentorship, and site visits, participants make their businesses investor ready.
Learn more at Academy for Women Entrepreneurs .
- Three initiatives that are bridging the socio-economic gap
Liberia’s Women Project, Digital Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Women Empowerment Forum are three initiatives – that are bridging the socio-economic gap and empowering women through technology, training & programmes designed to increase their financial rights and advocate for change.
These initiatives not only empower Liberia’s women but also pave the way for a flourishing and equitable nation.
a) Liberia’s Women Empowerment Project
Liberia’s Women Empowerment Project (LWEP) utilizes a community-driven and multi-sectoral approach, which has impacted 498 communities across six counties in Liberia. Its strategy involves individual and group-based, income-generating activities such as business training, credit and saving groups and life skills programmes for more gender inclusive training. Most importantly, the project empowers Liberia’s women by teaching them how to increase their confidence and develop sustainable and resilient livelihoods. By strengthening their voices and agency, women become leaders as they engage in household and community decision-making.
Alongside the educational part of the project, it also mobilizes communities and helps change attitudes surrounding women’s socio-economic engagement which is how prejudices start to dismantle.
b) Digital Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment
Digital Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment focuses on the economic challenges women in rural areas face. Led by UN Women, alongside various NGOs, the initiative uses technology to improve financial inclusion & entrepreneurial opportunities for women.
Women in remote areas experience greater economic inequalities than women in urban areas, often only being engaged in subsistence farming that has limited opportunities for increasing business or accessing broader markets. The digital platform Buy from Women connects women to wider markets beyond their area.
Since the launch in 2022, more than 3,000 women have had an income increase through better access to markets powered by the Buy from Women platform. Besides broader market access, women learn about financial literacy and have more growing opportunities to carry out secure transactions and oversee their businesses, income and job opportunities.
c) Women Empowerment Forum Liberia
Women Empowerment Forum (WEF) enables women across Liberia to become active and influential voices in their communities. The economic empowerment program includes microfinance and entrepreneurship training to assist women in starting businesses. Vocational training workshops provide instructions and discussions on market-driven trades, which women can participate in.
Additionally, community engagement focuses on leadership training where women can practise and engage in local development issues, rights, and opportunities hosted by community forums and workshops. Not only are women taught strategic and confidence-building techniques, but they also have the chance to apply them. Alongside their financial literacy, women can put these into practice in real-life scenarios, while learning about opportunities involving entrepreneurship and business.
This holistic approach empowers women on an individual level but also builds social cohesion and economic stability. WEF has impacted several regions, alongside their increasing partnerships with local and international stakeholders. These initiatives and collaborations have made them a contributing force in Liberia’s path to gender equality.
Empowering Liberia’s Women
All three initiatives adopt a multi-faceted approach to break down gender inequalities and build a more equal and prosperous future for women’s socio-economic opportunities in Liberia. By addressing the various hardships women face, from being in remote regions to having their voices suppressed or lacking access to financial literacy information, these initiatives have developed sustainable solutions. And centrally, they have raised women’s voices and encouraged women to become leaders of change, self-sufficiency and empowerment in Liberia.
- The Next Level Business Programme
The Next Level Business Programme is an initiative of the Government of Liberia and the United Nations joint programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women (RWEE).
Implemented through EduCARE Liberia in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection; the Ministry of Agriculture; the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, it provides specialized business training to local market women in 25 targeted markets. The women learn how to save and manage money, access credit, and expand their businesses and increase their profits.
https://www.fao.org/gender/insights/insights-detail/Empowering-Liberian-market-women/en
- Women Network for Empowerment (WNE)
Women Network for Empowerment (WNE) is a dynamic, women-led organization committed to advancing gender equality & empowering women and girls across all communities.
They amplify the voices of women, foster leadership & create inclusive opportunities through business, advocacy, education, capacity building, and community engagement. Rooted in the belief that empowered women are key to sustainable development, the network connects individuals, organizations, and communities to drive meaningful change. Through collaboration, mentorship, and grassroots action, they are building a future where every woman has the power, resources, and freedom to thrive.
Finally, they are a powerful network of resilient, resourceful, and visionary women committed to transforming lives, supporting one another, and building a future where every woman can reach her full potential.
- Policies for Women Entrepreneurs in Liberia
Liberia’s policies for women entrepreneurs include digital inclusion initiatives to connect them to markets and finance, capacity-building programs in areas like financial literacy and climate-smart agriculture, and advocacy for supportive national policies in digital and renewable energy sectors.
The Liberia Chamber of Commerce is also focusing on gender-lens approaches in priority sectors like hospitality and tourism. These efforts aim to create a more enabling environment by addressing barriers and improving productivity and market access for women-led businesses.
Key policy areas and initiatives
Market and financial access: The D4WEE project uses the “Buy from Women” digital platform to connect women farmers to larger markets and facilitate mobile money transactions.
The Central Bank of Liberia is working with projects to digitalize Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and support mobile money platforms.
Capacity building: Training is provided in financial literacy, disaster risk reduction, and climate-smart agriculture.
Projects build the capacity of intermediaries to better serve women entrepreneurs.
Enabling environment and advocacy: There is advocacy for national policies that support the digital economy, financial inclusion, and green entrepreneurship.
Initiatives support women in priority sectors like hospitality and tourism.
Gender equality: Article 18 of the Liberian Constitution guarantees equal opportunity for employment regardless of sex and equal pay for equal work.
However, significant disparities in empowerment and labor market participation persist, as reflected by Liberia’s Gender Inequality Index.
The Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC)
Despite their pivotal role in the economy, women in Liberia encounter considerable obstacles in establishing and growing businesses. By adopting a gender-lens throughout its activities, as called for in its Strategic Plan 2023-2026, the Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC) works towards a focused goal – to create an environment where women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses can thrive. It is thus looking to support specific value chains, where women are especially well represented, like the hospitality and tourism sector, which has also been identified by the Government as a priority sector for development.
The ICR Facility supported the Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC), the country’s most important and oldest business membership organization established in 1951, to enhance its internal structure and capacities. This intervention aimed to improve the LCC’s ability to effectively communicate the needs and challenges of the private sector to policymakers.
As part of this initiative, the ICR Facility and the LCC jointly developed a Growth Plan and a Monitoring & Evaluation Plan. These plans provide a practical toolkit with phased activities and options for prioritization, and enable the LCC to track indicators following an incremental development by building institutional capacity, achieving operational sustainability, and securing financial independence over time.
And on a parallel line, the ICR Facility assisted the LCC in expanding its support to Liberia’s tourism and hospitality sector, a key pillar of national development, as identified by the government. This effort adopted a gender-sensitive approach, with a specific focus on identifying bottlenecks and creating opportunities for women-owned businesses.
- The Growth Accelerator Liberia Programme – Cohort V
The Growth Accelerator Liberia Programme was officially launched in 2025. It is
an initiative aimed at – supporting impactful, innovative businesses and agricultural cooperatives in Liberia across all industries.
This year, the programme focuses exclusively on Liberian female-led businesses; selected ventures will have the opportunity to receive $10,000 USD in co-financing, alongside mentorship and technical support – helping them grow, create jobs, and contribute to Liberia’s economic development.
This milestone is made possible through the continued partnership between UNDP Liberia and the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. UNDP Liberia Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Liberia is indeed on a mission to empower local entrepreneurs.
So, if you are a female entrepreneur ready to scale your business, visit www.growlib.org to apply for a chance to participate in Cohort V.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benjamin-dagher-86a864120_the-growth-accelerator-liberia-programme-activity-7353464488617988099-w90t/
- African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
The Government of Liberia, with support from UNDP and UNWOMEN, undertakes a series of consultations with Liberian women entrepreneurs involved in cross-border trade to sensitize them about the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which became operational in January 2021.
The consultations highlight the opportunities presented by the continental free trade area as well as provide a forum for women traders to identify and find solutions to the challenges they encounter when trading across borders.
The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement presents an immense opportunity for Liberia’s growth and prosperity – by making it easier for entrepreneurs and businesses to move seamlessly from one country to another to buy and sell their goods and services without unnecessary tariff and non-tariff barriers. However, to accomplish this goal, the operationalization of the agreement must be fair and inclusive by engaging and listening to women traders who account for about 70% of the trade that happens across African borders.
Women traders typically face a number of hurdles including harassment and extortion at borders, as well as complex, lengthy trade procedures that could deter the faint-hearted.
These consultations will give women a voice to shape how the AfCFTA rules of trade are implemented to address their specific challenges enabling them to fully benefit from the Africa-wide trading opportunities.
The process began on 5 November 2021, with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the UNDP Regional Service Center training officials from the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MGCSP) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) on how to conduct the consultations.
The formal consultations with women traders to be held under the theme: “Giving voice to Liberian women entrepreneurs to make AfCFTA work for them”.
- United Female Entrepreneur Liberia (UFEL)
United Female Entrepreneur Liberia (UFEL) is a non-profit organization in Liberia that empowers women through programs focused on capacity building, financial management, advocacy & sustainable agriculture. The group aims to promote economic and social empowerment for women, ensuring their voices are heard in decision-making processes. UFEL provides training, facilitates access to funding through initiatives like VSLA savings groups, and engages in community projects and public awareness campaigns.
UFEL’s core mission is – to uplift women through empowerment initiatives in economic, social, and political spheres. It offers training in financial management, capacity building & provides access to funding through VSLA (Village Savings and Loan Association) programs. The organization supports women through programmes in sustainable agriculture, contributing to their economic stability.
UFEL advocates for a gender-sensitive society where women’s voices are considered in decision-making.
Shree Lahiri
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
