The African Banker Awards have announced the nominees for the 2026 Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA ) Bank of the Year Award.
The AFAWA Bank of the Year Award, in its fourth year as part of the African Banker Awards, celebrates African financial institutions that are making significant strides in advancing access to finance for women-led businesses across the continent.
Sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund and the African Development Bank Group, the AFAWA Bank of the Year Award also recognizes financial institutions contributing to bridging the $42 billion gender financing gap in Africa, particularly through the AFAWA Guarantee for Growth facility.
AFAWA, with its Guarantee for Growth facility as its cornerstone, seeks to unlock $5 billion in access to finance for 30,000 women-owned and led businesses through partner financial institutions -- and is committed to scaling up to at least double the financing channelled to women entrepreneurs and reach at least twice as many women beneficiaries by 2033.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 27 May at the 20th edition of African Banker Awards, one of the highlight events of the African Development Bank Group's 2026 Annual Meetings, currently underway in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
This year's financial institutions nominated for the AFAWA Bank of the Year Award are:
- CRDB Bank
- National Bank of Malawi
- NCBA Bank Kenya PLC
- NMB Bank PLC
- Rawbank
"Aligned with African Development Group's 2026 Annual Meetings theme, Mobilising Africa's Development Financing at Scale in a Fragmented World, the 2026 AFAWA Bank of the Year Award spotlights the African financial institutions that support women led businesses through access to finance, gender responsive policies and regulations, as well as skills training and mentorship that enable them to grow and thrive," said Dr. Jemimah Njuki, the Bank's Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society.
The shortlisted institutions have been recognised for their efforts in developing tailored financial solutions for women entrepreneurs, increasing access to credit for women-owned businesses and supporting inclusive economic development within their respective markets.
Working with some 200 partner financial institutions across 44 African countries, AFAWA has, disbursed more $1.5 billion in financing and positively impacted more than 26,000 women-led small and medium enterprises across the continent.
Over the past few years, African banks have increasingly recognised the importance of gender-smart financing and the economic value of supporting women-led enterprises with many institutions creating dedicated programmes aimed at addressing the specific needs of women entrepreneurs, including flexible lending solutions, financial literacy initiatives, mentorship programmes and business advisory services.
The African Development Bank Group, through AFAWA and its partnership with the African Guarantee Fund, is transforming a largely untapped demographic of women-led businesses into a stronger economic dividend.
AFAWA is supported by various development partners including the G7 countries (France, Canada, Italy, Germany and the European Commission), the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative (We-Fi) of the World Bank Group.
