Women Agripreneurs Can Now Access US$50,000 Through VALUE4HER and Ecobank Ellevate Programme.

Women farmers and agripreneurs across Africa grow, process, trade, and feed the continent. They represent the majority of agricultural labour across sub-Saharan Africa and yet they continue to receive a disproportionately small share of the financing, market access support, and institutional backing that would allow their businesses to grow beyond their immediate communities into the regional and continental players they have the capacity to become.

That structural gap is now being directly addressed through one of the most significant women-focused agribusiness finance partnerships to emerge on the continent in 2026. Through to help them grow their businesses to continental scale.

Ecobank Group and AGRA signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on 11 May 2026, establishing a cooperation framework that brings together Ecobank’s pan-African banking network and AGRA’s expertise in agricultural transformation, with the joint aim of improving access to finance for agribusinesses, farmer organisations, and key value chain actors. At the heart of this partnership is a clear, structured commitment to women. Ecobank’s Ellevate programme is formally linked with AGRA’s Value4HER initiative to provide targeted financing and capacity-building to women-led agribusinesses across the continent.

Ellevate is not a new initiative. It is a proven, scaled programme that has already empowered over 103,000 women-led businesses across Ecobank’s network. Consequently, when VALUE4HER members gain prioritised access to Ellevate, they are tapping into a programme with a demonstrated track record of delivering real financial tools to women entrepreneurs at meaningful scale.

What Is VALUE4HER?

VALUE4HER is an AGRA initiative that aims to increase the performance of women entrepreneurs through access to markets and trade, access to finance and investments, through tailored online and offline matchmaking activities, learning, networking, and global advocacy aimed at addressing some of the key barriers for women’s business growth and market participation in agriculture.

Furthermore, VALUE4HER is powered by VALUE4HERConnect, Africa’s first women in agribusiness digital marketplace, offering integrated business solutions to women agri enterprises. This digital platform consequently transforms VALUE4HER from a traditional membership network into a living, active marketplace where women agripreneurs can discover opportunities, connect with buyers and investors, and access the financial and business development tools they need to grow.

The programme’s specific objectives are built directly around the most persistent constraints women agripreneurs face. They cover supporting women-led agribusinesses to access competitive regional and global markets, strengthening the knowledge, skills, and leadership capabilities of women business leaders, and building the kind of structured advocacy and visibility that addresses systemic barriers to women’s agricultural market participation at the policy and institutional level.

What Ecobank Ellevate Offers VALUE4HER Members

The exclusive partnership between VALUE4HER and Ecobank Ellevate gives VALUE4HER members prioritised access to a suite of financial solutions that are specifically designed to remove the most common barriers women agripreneurs face when trying to access capital and grow their businesses across borders.

Collateral-Free Loans of Up to US$50,000

For women agripreneurs who have long been excluded from conventional agricultural finance because they lack the land titles, fixed assets, or collateral that traditional banks require, this is the most transformative element of the Ellevate offer. Loans of up to US$50,000 without collateral requirements consequently remove a barrier that has structurally excluded enormous numbers of creditworthy women business owners from formal financial markets for generations.

This alignment ensures that women-led agribusinesses, who often face the steepest hurdles in securing collateral, can access not only capital but also the financial literacy training required to manage it effectively. The result is consequently capital that is not just accessible but actionable, backed by the knowledge and support structures needed to deploy it productively.

Cross-Border Trade Support and Foreign Exchange Tools

One of the most significant opportunities for African women agripreneurs lies in regional and continental trade. The African Continental Free Trade Area has created the policy architecture for intra-African commerce at unprecedented scale. However, navigating cross-border transactions, foreign exchange requirements, and trade finance instruments remains a significant practical challenge for most SMEs.

By linking Ecobank’s Ellevate programme with AGRA’s Value4HER platform, the bank seeks to professionalise agricultural value chains and move beyond subsistence farming toward commercially viable, investment-ready activities. Ecobank’s presence across 34 sub-Saharan African countries makes it uniquely positioned to provide the cross-border banking infrastructure and specialised foreign exchange tools that women agripreneurs need to trade regionally with confidence and efficiency.

Mentorship and Tailored Capacity Building

Access to capital without the business skills and strategic knowledge to use it effectively is not a solution. It is consequently why the VALUE4HER and Ellevate partnership integrates structured mentorship and tailored training programmes alongside the financial products it offers.

AGRA contributes catalytic funding, beneficiary mobilisation, and technical assistance to improve the financial literacy, governance, and investment readiness of agribusiness cooperatives within the partnership’s framework. For VALUE4HER members, this means access to capacity-building that is specifically designed around the realities of women-led agribusinesses, not generic business training repurposed for an agricultural audience.

The Bigger Picture: A Historic Partnership Backing Women’s Agricultural Finance

The VALUE4HER and Ellevate collaboration sits within a broader and historically significant financing commitment that Ecobank has made to African agriculture in 2026. Ecobank has unveiled a US$3 billion trade finance programme aimed at strengthening intra-African commerce and supporting economic growth across the continent over the next three years, with a major focus on agriculture, which remains one of Africa’s largest employers and a key contributor to economic activity across many countries

Furthermore, the signing follows another major financing announcement made during the Africa Forward Summit, where Proparco and Ecobank secured a three-year €300 million agreement aimed at supporting African agricultural value chains, with part of those resources expected to be channelled through initiatives such as the Ecobank-AGRA partnership.

Financial exclusion continues to disproportionately affect women and young entrepreneurs across Africa’s agricultural sector, limiting their ability to scale operations and participate in formal markets. The VALUE4HER and Ellevate partnership is consequently not addressing a niche concern. It is tackling one of the most structurally significant constraints on African agricultural productivity, food security, and rural economic development.

As AGRA’s leadership noted at the signing of the MoU: “Agriculture is not one sector among many for Africa. It is the foundation on which the continent’s entire development agenda rests. Pairing AGRA’s expertise with Ecobank’s reach and capabilities is how we make the case, credibly and concretely, that African food systems are one of the most compelling opportunities of our time.”

How to Join VALUE4HER and Access Ellevate

Becoming a VALUE4HER member gives you direct, prioritised access to Ecobank Ellevate’s full suite of financial solutions including collateral-free loans, cross-border trade tools, and capacity-building support. The registration process is straightforward and accessible through the VALUE4HER official platform.

Women agripreneurs across Africa are consequently encouraged to join the network today and take the first step toward accessing the capital, market connections, and business development support that can help them grow their enterprises from local to continental scale.

Disclaimer

Africa Agricultural Network (AAN) is committed to informing and empowering agricultural communities across Africa as per our mandate. This article is intended for informational purposes only. Readers are advised to verify all programme details and eligibility requirements directly with VALUE4HER and Ecobank before making any decisions.