As we pursue our strategic priority of gender equality, we have partnered with Value for Women, a specialised and pioneering gender inclusion firm catalysing women's participation and leadership across business, finance and investment in emerging markets.
This collaboration marks a significant step in identifying and implementing actions to promote gender equality, both within our organisation and among our customers.
Our relationship with Value for Women began as a referral from Aceli Africa, an organisation designed to address the perceived $65 billion financing gap for African agricultural SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).
In 2021, Aceli Africa and Value for Women collaborated to offer a series of workshops focused on gender lens investing (GLI), which is an investing approach that takes into consideration gender-based factors across the investment process to advance gender equality and better inform investment decisions. Shared Interest was invited to participate in these workshops.
In 2023, Aceli Africa and Value for Women launched a five-year strategic partnership to drive gender inclusion in agriculture through engagement with Aceli’s network of agricultural lenders in East Africa.
Through our relationship with Aceli Africa, we successfully applied for Value for Women’s ‘Gender Diagnostic Assessment and Gender Action Planning support’ in August 2024. This support, which commenced in September 2024, is helping us advance our journey in embedding a gender lens into our work.
Sophia Davis Vijayan, Engagement Manager at Value for Women, said:
"Working with Shared Interest through the Aceli Partnership to develop an organisational Gender Action Plan has been inspiring. The team’s strong commitment to gender inclusion, both for their staff and the clients they serve, is clear – and the long-term impact will be far reaching.
