ESEY Awards 2026/27
Our founder, Naasu Fofanah, is in the running in two categories
The Investec Early-Stage Entrepreneur of the Year Awards celebrate the founders building what comes next. Naasu is in the running for two of them, for her work putting finance in the hands of women across Sierra Leone.
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Category
The Future is Female
Recognising a bank built around the women that formal finance has too often left out.
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Category
The Future is Finance
Recognising a new model for sustainable finance that reaches women-led enterprise.
- Founded Susue’s WomenFinance, whose co-venture with Sierra Leone Commercial Bank created the Women’s Banking Product
- Sierra Leone’s first Special Gender Adviser to the President
- Yale World Fellow and Co-Chair of the Bank of Sierra Leone Financial Literacy Working Group
Women run most of Sierra Leone’s small businesses. Formal finance still passes them by.
Women drive the economy — as traders, farmers, producers and entrepreneurs. Yet they receive only a fraction of formal credit, leaving a large and clear market gap. Women’s Green Bank exists to close it.
Women’s Green Bank exists to change this — at scale, and sustainably.
Our products reflect the daily, seasonal and irregular cash flows of women’s businesses. Savings and transaction accounts create a pathway into formal finance — reaching women through channels they already use, from mobile money to trusted local agents.
Built on what already works.
Before becoming Women’s Green Bank, our model was tested through Susue’s WomenFinance and its co-venture with the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (SLCB), working alongside the Market Women Association of Sierra Leone. The Women’s Banking Product — approved by the Bank of Sierra Leone in 2022 — became one of SLCB’s top-performing products within three years.
When banking is designed for women, participation follows. Women’s Green Bank is the next phase: a dedicated institution with women’s leadership at the centre.
Partnership with SLCB agreed
Co-venture agreement signed with Sierra Leone Commercial Bank to develop the Women’s Banking Product.
Product approved & accounts open
Bank of Sierra Leone approves the Women’s Banking Product. Market women begin saving immediately. First loans disbursed March 2023.
4,605 accounts · $350K loans · $230K deposits
The model proves that when access is designed for women, they save, borrow responsibly, and grow.
Women’s Green Bank (SL) Ltd registered
Engagement begins on the Bank of Sierra Leone licensing pathway. AfDB discussions underway.
5,476 account holders · $908K loans · US$10M raise
Proof of success continues to grow as WGB launches its US$10M Tier 1 capital raise and five-year establishment plan.
“When banking is designed for women, participation follows.”— Women’s Green Bank, built on Susue’s WomenFinance
Not just access — alignment.
Every design decision — from product structure to delivery channel — starts with one question: does this work for the women-led businesses of Sierra Leone?
Integrated delivery
Women-focused products reflect daily, seasonal and irregular cash flows. Savings and transaction accounts create a pathway into formal finance.
Digital and rural reach
USSD (*999#), Mi Yone Tellers, agents and mobile-money linkages reduce geographic, transaction-cost and technology barriers for underserved and rural women.
Green by design
Green finance is embedded in the model, linking women’s enterprise growth with climate-resilient investment in climate-smart agriculture, clean energy and recycling.
Women in Mining
A dedicated pathway offering finance, PPE, formalisation, financial literacy and market linkages for women working in mining.
Bundled insurance
Affordable protection against selected business, asset and climate risks, delivered alongside savings, credit and financial literacy.
Built for blended finance
A commercial engine driven by savings and lending, with donor support for establishment and DFI, concessional and private capital alongside — suited to gender and climate mandates.
One million women. One bank. Built for the future.
Our mission is to provide and facilitate access to financial services designed around the needs of one million business women operating in the informal sector. Our primary concern is their financial well-being. We desire to be the primary gateway to financial services for women in Sierra Leone — and eventually across West Africa.
Women’s Green Bank (SL) Ltd was registered in 2024 and is following a seven-stage establishment roadmap — from feasibility and the Bank of Sierra Leone licensing pathway to governance, safeguards, and green and digital systems — backed by a US$10 million Tier 1 capital raise.
Join us in building a specialised bank for women and climate-resilient growth.
We are raising US$10 million in Tier 1 capital and seeking mission-aligned investors, development finance institutions and strategic partners for the next phase of Women’s Green Bank.
- Tier 1 equity in the US$10M capital raise
- Board observer or advisory seat
- Priority access to financial performance data
- Co-investment alongside DFI equity and concessional green debt
- First-mover positioning in a $360M market gap
- Feasibility and regulatory preparation
- Technical assistance: product design, risk systems & ESG
- Systems development & capacity building
- Guarantees and concessional green debt
- Impact reporting against the 2026–2031 ambition
- USSD (*999#), mobile money & core banking integration
- Agent networks and Mi Yone Tellers
- Climate-smart agriculture, clean energy & recycling value chains
- Women in Mining: PPE, formalisation & market linkages
- Financial literacy and women’s enterprise training
Built with and engaging
Let’s build something that lasts.
Whether you are a development finance institution, a private investor, a strategic partner, a journalist, or simply someone who wants to follow our journey — we would love to hear from you.
We respond to all enquiries.
Please use the form to send a message and a member of the Women’s Green Bank team will be in touch within 3 working days.
Or reach us directly:
info@womensgreenbank.com · +232 77777911
10 Habib Drive, Regent, Freetown, Sierra Leone