Lilian Mramba is Regional Director, Africa at Grassroots Business Fund, where she manages the investment portfolio, business advisory, and impact measurement activities. She spoke to us about the gender finance challenges and opportunities on the continent in the wake of COVID, and the need for more rigorous analysis to prevent ‘genderwashing’.

If you take a quick glance at the agri businesses in West-Africa, what you see is a male dominated sector. Typically, financiers look at who sells the commodities (men), who is registered as owner of the land (men). and who is more likely to have a full-time written contract (men). It’s as if women do not exist in the agri value chains. But the opposite is true.