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African investment funds are struggling to raise capital for women-led businesses because many previous backers do not want to be associated with a gender-driven ethos that goes against US President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI drive.
Trump has issued executive orders restricting the use of the term “gender” in federal policies and ending government DEI programs to cut “waste” and push back against “gender ideology.” Several fund managers told Semafor that US institutional investors, who underwrite much of the development finance flows into Africa, were already backing away from funds that focus on the role of gender in achieving a financial return.
“Investors are pulling back from anything explicitly tied to DEI or gender equity,” Gwera Kiwana, an investment committee member at the Launch Africa Ventures fund, told Semafor, echoing comments made by others. Elena Haba, a senior official at the 2X Global membership organization that seeks to unlock gender-focused capital, said the dismantling of USAID had contributed to the drying up of capital that supported gender-based investments.
Read on for the impact of Trump’s anti-DEI policies on African investors. →
