Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF)
The Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF) is a public-private partnership led by USAID with founding members Amazon, Reckitt, The UPS Foundation, and Visa Foundation to increase access to climate finance for gender-responsive, women-led, and women-benefiting organisations.Overview
There is an ever-growing body of evidence that demonstrates the critical role women play in climate change mitigation and adaptation - women are innovators, leaders, entrepreneurs, employees, and customers in climate-related fields. Women and girls, especially from underrepresented and marginalised groups, are also disproportionately affected by natural and climate disasters given that they represent the majority of the world’s poor and are proportionally more dependent upon threatened natural resources.
At COP27, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the support of Amazon, launched the Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF) as one of the first major activities under USAID’s Climate Finance for Development Accelerator, a US$250 million initiative designed to mobilise US$2.5 billion in public and private climate investments by 2030 to fund a range of climate change mitigation and adaptation solutions. CGEF is an innovative public-private partnership led by USAID that seeks to increase access to climate finance for gender-responsive, women-led, and women-benefitting organisations that address climate change. In its first year, CGEF raised over US$20 million and welcomed founding partners Reckitt, The UPS Foundation, and the Visa Foundation alongside USAID and Amazon. CGEF’s grantmaking is managed by 2X Global, an international non-profit membership organisation and the leading global industry body working at the nexus of climate and gender finance.
Join us in building a movement to catalyze gender equity in climate finance!
Founding members:
Second funding round
CGEF is proud to announce the launch of its second Request for Proposals (RFP). This RFP seeks to reach climate- and gender-smart fund managers and network organisations and intermediaries aiming to unlock capital for long-term and systemic change that catalyses gender equity in climate finance in emerging markets. In both categories, preference will be given to those that also yield positive health outcomes as a direct objective or strong co-benefit of the intervention.
The funding round seeks applications from the following in countries where USAID works globally:
Climate- and gender-smart emerging impact investment funds (and investment vehicles), with a strong preference for women-led funds/vehicles: Grants seek to support investment funds and vehicles aligned with the 2X Criteria and that advance climate solutions and increase gender equality by developing, scaling, and investing in climate mitigation and adaptation businesses and solutions.
Network organisations and intermediaries supporting women entrepreneurs working in climate action: Grants seek to support intermediaries that facilitate financing or provide other forms of support to women entrepreneurs working at the frontlines of climate action (such as women entrepreneur networks, incubators, accelerators, business service providers, and field-building associations).
An informational webinar about this funding round is scheduled on May 7th 2024 at 13:00 GMT+1. Register here to join the session.
First funding round grantees
Clean Technology Hub | Nigeria
Ifeoma Malo, CEO and Co-founder
The Clean Technology Hub is an accelerator with a network of more than 60 women-led startups working on clean energy and sustainability solutions in Africa, including a company that designs solar dryers for rural farmers, making it more affordable for farmers to dry and process their harvested vegetables while also reducing the use of fossil fuel-powered driers. The accelerator has also supported Trekk Scooters, a Nigerian startup that provides solar-powered scooters for students and residents to use in place of cars on university campuses and in residential areas.
The grant will provide seed funding to women-led businesses working on climate initiatives benefiting women and children.
M-Kyala Ventures | Kenya
Carolyne Kirabo, Founder and CEO
M-Kyala Ventures has helped hundreds of women entrepreneurs across Africa get access to mentoring and networking and has driven more than $500,000 to women-owned businesses in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
The firm has a strong track record supporting women in climate smart enterprises including in agroecology, circular waste management, renewable energy a recent example being the support of a gender agroecology accelerator in Uganda and a renewable energy women’s program in Tanzania.
The grant will help M-Kyala Ventures invest in women-led companies working on projects related to solar water pumps, reforestation, plastic recycling, agroecology, and organic fertiliser.
WomHub | South Africa
Hema Vallabh and Naadiya Moosajee, Co-founders
WomHub is an accelerator that has supported more than 2000 female STEM business founders with funding, financial readiness skills, and leadership support. The accelerator also leads girls’ STEM education efforts across 30 countries. WomHub recently supported the Solar Power Café, which provides fully automated solar backup power for small businesses, as well as a women-led startup that provides HVAC analysis and design that reduces energy consumption.
The grant will enable WomHub to grow its virtual accelerator program that provides female founders with a dedicated coach, as well as enable them to make additional grants to new startups.
ATG Samata | Sub-Saharan Africa
Lelemba Phiri and Lisa G. Thomas, Co-founders
ATG Samata is a women-led fund manager focused on key markets in sub-Saharan Africa with an emphasis on Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique and Zambia.
Their fund is a gender-lens venture fund targeting early stage, scalable businesses in emerging markets. Their approach focuses on investing in outstanding female-led and gender-diverse teams that are operating in high growth industry segments with significant female presence within the value chain.
Co-founders Lelemba and Lisa and their team plan to use the CGEF grant funding to make additional investments as they work towards a first close planned for late 2024.
wCap | Zambia
Nyeji Chilembo-Mhango, Co-founder
wCap is the only woman-owned venture capital firm in Zambia and is focused on bridging the funding gap for early stage high growth women-led businesses offering climate solutions in selected countries in Southern Africa.
In 2022, wCap established a gender lens climate-focused funding mechanism to increase the volume of climate finance that flows into women-led businesses in the region. The team plans to deploy the 2x CGEF grant funding as catalytic investment capital into a high-growth and high-impact business benefiting women-led businesses and addressing gender-climate vulnerabilities.
Interested in CGEF?
CGEF seeks to increase access to climate finance for gender-responsive, women-led, and women-benefitting organizations that address climate change in global emerging markets where USAID operates. Stay updated on each funding round by subscribing to the 2X Global Newsletter. To be automatically notified of future CGEF funding rounds and other USAID climate finance opportunities, join the USAID Climate Finance Investment Network.
The information provided on this website is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government.