Dodoma, Tanzania, May 31, 2023— IFC today launched Anaweza: She Can, a wide-ranging program to empower more women across Tanzania's economy to access financing, attain leadership positions in the private sector, and launch or grow businesses, including in agriculture.
The five-year, $10 million advisory program has three objectives: To enhance women's employment and access to corporate leadership; to increase access to financial and non-financial services for women and women-owned small business; and to boost access of women-led businesses to productive assets and markets in key sectors such as agribusiness, manufacturing, digital services, and tourism.
To achieve these goals, IFC will work with Tanzanian businesses to boost investment in women as leaders and employees to increase the number of women in leadership positions and on boards. The program will also work with public and private sector partners to create financial and non-financial products targeted at women in business and to promote activities that increase sourcing from women entrepreneurs.
IFC's program aligns with the Tanzania Development Vision 2025, the National Five Year Development Plan III (2021/22-2025/26), Zanzibar Development Vision 2050, the National Gender Policy and its Strategy, and the Tanzania commitments on Generation Equality, which outlines steps to enhance human capital with a strong focus on women's empowerment and gender equality.
"It is my hope that the program will closely involve the private sector in this country to promote access to opportunities for women in leadership positions and better jobs to stimulate economic growth in the country. Research shows that closing the gender gap between men's and women's employment could increase long-term GDP per capita by 4.8 percent. Thus, such collaboration with the private sector, which employs many women, will bring about a major economic revolution in this country," said His Excellency Philip Isdori Mpango, Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
"Women can be an engine of growth for Tanzania. Empowering women to play a greater role in growing the economy will generate more and better livelihoods for people and families. We will work with partners across the public and private sectors to realize opportunities for incorporating more women into Tanzania's economy," said Jumoke Jagun-Dokunmu, IFC Regional Director for Eastern Africa.
According to the World Bank's 2022 Tanzania Gender Assessment, Tanzania has made strides increasing gender equality, and the government is committed to addressing gender inequality in all aspects of women's lives but several gaps remain. IFC's Anaweza: She Can program aims to address many of these gaps.
For example, female labor force participation in Tanzania is estimated at 80 percent, but this is mostly in informal agriculture where women are overrepresented and own smaller, less productive farms. Meanwhile, 75 percent of women-owned businesses in Tanzania can't' access the finance they need due to challenges including lack of collateral or limited awareness of available financial products.
In private sector leadership, women comprise only 19 percent of listed company boards, according to data from the Boardroom Africa's Gender Diversity Index. In executive leadership, the representation gap is even greater with women accounting for just 4 percent of CEOs of listed companies.
Reducing gender inequality is a key pillar of IFC's gender work across Africa, which includes investment and advice, research to highlight the business rationale of closing gender gaps, and global and country-specific partnerships. IFC's operations are focused on improving women's access to opportunities in entrepreneurship, employment, insurance, corporate leadership, and the digital economy.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2022, IFC committed a record $32.8 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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