Zinari Women’s Enterprise Fund (Z-WEF), Ghana’s first women-focused fund has announced the successful GHS 35 million first close for the GHS 120 million Fund. Anchored by the government’s fund-of-fund vehicle, Venture Capital Trust Fund, the fund seeks to bridge the financing gap for female entrepreneurs.
What is Zinari Women’s Enterprise Fund’s strategy?
The fund will write cheques of between GHS 100,000 to GHS 12 million to 20 Small and Growing Businesses. The fund will invest in commercially sustainable businesses that are women-owned, led/managed and/or incorporate women in their value chains with an expected impact of creating both direct and indirect jobs.
In addition to job creation, the fund will measure its portfolio’s performance based on improved cumulative livelihoods, tax contributions from supported businesses, and the level of support extended to women and youth.
As a 10-year closed-ended fund, it targets delivering a 20% internal rate of return (IRR) to investors while maintaining a strong focus on measurable social and economic impact.
Who are the avengers behind the fund?
Z-WEF is led by a group of professional investors with experience across impact investing, agriculture financing and international development finance and private equity.
The fund is led by Barbara Ghansah, an agricultural finance, SME, and impact investment expert with over 25 years of experience in West Africa. She specializes in SME investment, agricultural financing, grants structuring, project analysis, business planning, strategy development, due diligence, business valuation, and financial analysis. Barbara has worked extensively with agribusinesses and women-led SMEs across various industries and value chains in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, facilitating access to finance and delivering business development services for early-stage and established enterprises. She has built a broad network of partnerships with government, private sector, and international development organizations.
