Women Seek Greater Role as Ethiopia’s Capital Market Takes Shape

By Mintesinot Nigussie  |  September 18, 2026

Ethiopia’s emerging capital market could provide new avenues for women entrepreneurs and executives to raise capital and participate in corporate decision-making, as the country seeks to widen participation in its financial system.

The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA), together with the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs and FSD Ethiopia, is bringing together women chief executives, managing directors, founders, corporate directors and entrepreneurs for a one-and-a-half-day symposium focused on women’s role in the new market.

The “Women Who Move Markets” symposium will examine opportunities and obstacles facing women as investors, business owners and corporate leaders, with discussions covering practical ways to increase their participation in the capital market.

Rahel Kassa, deputy director-general of ECMA, said increasing women’s participation in the financial sector forms part of the authority’s efforts to develop Ethiopia’s capital market.

Women accounted for 28.5 percent of traditional bank loans by number last year, but received only 17.3 percent of the total value of such lending, according to the National Bank of Ethiopia’s latest Women’s Financial Inclusion Scorecard. Women represented 32.5 percent of active transaction accounts and 31.3 percent of active digital financial-service accounts.

The figures point to a distinction that will matter as Ethiopia’s capital market develops: having women use financial services is not the same as having them control capital or occupy senior decision-making positions.

ECMA’s new market is intended to give companies another means of raising finance beyond conventional bank lending. For women-owned and women-led businesses, participation in that market could eventually create additional channels for expansion, while greater representation on corporate boards and in executive positions could influence how capital is allocated.

The symposium is therefore focused on how women can participate in Ethiopia’s evolving financial architecture as the capital market takes shape.

Source: FSX Business News