The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a $310 million financial package for FirstRand Bank (FNB), part of the FirstRand Group, to expand access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in South Africa, with a particular focus on women-led businesses and agribusinesses.
The initiative is intended to address long-standing credit constraints faced by smaller firms and entrepreneurs, especially in sectors that play a central role in local employment and food systems. The financing package forms part of AfDB’s broader mandate to strengthen private-sector-led growth and support South Africa’s socio-economic development.
By directing capital toward women entrepreneurs and agribusinesses, the Bank aims to encourage more inclusive participation in the economy and to bolster segments that are considered critical to long-term stability and productivity. The approval reflects AfDB’s ongoing efforts to expand the reach of formal financial services and reinforce the foundations of more resilient and broadly shared economic growth in the country.
By channeling these resources through FirstRand and, in particular, its commercial banking franchise, FNB, we are working with trusted partners with extensive reach to ensure that MSMEs —particularly those led by women —have access to the capital they need to grow, create jobs, and contribute to South Africa’s economic development.
The package comprises three strategic components, a $200 million line of credit for on-lending to MSMEs across various sectors, a $100 million gender-focused line of credit dedicated to women-led and women-owned MSMEs along with a $10 million concessional line of credit from the Agri-Food SME Catalytic Financing Mechanism for women-owned agricultural small business enterprises.
AfDB Expands Lending Access for Women
A defining aspect is the gender focus, with $110 million, more than one-third of the total financial package allocated specifically for women-led MSMEs. The gender-focused approach aligns with AfDB’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) and the Agri-Food SME Catalytic Financing Mechanism (ACFM) initiatives, which can prove to be an important building block in demonstrating the Bank’s commitment to closing the gender financing gap in Africa.
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Most smallholder farmers in South Africa remain excluded from accessing bank credit, even though they make up a large proportion of the farming population. The funding is designed to deliver assistance to women-owned small business enterprises in the agriculture sector, in order to increase their access to affordable credit on favorable terms.
MSMEs are significant contributors to South Africa’s economic growth, supporting job creation and community upliftment. FirstRand’s commercial banking arm, FNB, has demonstrated a strong track record in providing capacity to women-owned businesses and small businesses in the agricultural sector, which in turn supports community development
The Financial Package will also be complemented by technical assistance and Performance-Based Incentives from ACFM and AFAWA initiatives of the African Development Bank. The Technical assistance packages are aimed at enhancing the bankability of women-owned small business enterprises, supported through FNB’s agriculture offerings and exploring alternative credit scoring.
Strengthening Local Value Chains
The funding aligns with the AfDB’s Four Cardinal Points development priorities, which include improving access to capital, reforming financial systems, harnessing demographic shifts for economic development, and building climate-resilient infrastructure.
These priorities are aimed at unlocking Africa’s potential by supporting a more self-sufficient, industrialized and digitally capable economy, with a strong emphasis on generating opportunities for women and youth. The package also supports the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy (2024–2033), which prioritizes inclusive growth, private-sector development and gender equality.
According to Ahmed Attout, Director of the Financial Sector Development Department at the AfDB, the financing package represents a major milestone and elevation of impactful partnership between the African Development Bank and FirstRand.
He added that funding demonstrates both institutions’ shared commitment to driving inclusive economic growth and empowerment of the heavily credit-deprived business communities of South Africa by deliberately channeling credit to women entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers.
The financing package could mark a strategic push point where widened access to credit for undeserved businesses in South Africa, particularly women-led enterprises and agribusinesses is expanded. By routing capital through a major commercial bank, the initiative aims to scale lending where it has been most constrained, strengthen local value chains, and support more inclusive private-sector growth.
The impact of AfDB’s funding will ultimately depend on how effectively the funding reaches smaller firms and whether it tangibly improves their capacity to invest, expand, and remain resilient in a challenging economic environment.
