African Philanthropist of the Year strives to empower women, reduce gender gap

Zimbabwean philanthropist Tsitsi Masiyiwa, who was recently named the African Philanthropist of The Year, is behind the African Gender Initiative’s philanthropic efforts to tackle gender inequality on the continent.

It will take another 132 years to close the gender gap, the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 has found, which means that no one living today is likely to see a time when men and women have equal rights or access to resources. Barriers to women’s access to financial resources, ownership rights to the land they farm, and access to opportunities including education motivate Masiyiwa in her philanthropic work, something she started over 25 years ago. Launched in October 2022, her Africa Gender Initiative plans to raise $50 million within the next few years from African philanthropists to support Co-Impact’s $1 billion gender fund.

Co-Impact’s Gender Fund, which also focuses on Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, aims at providing funding primarily to women-led, local organizations tackling systemic gender-based issues in the key areas of health, education, and economic opportunity in the Global South.

“Africans have a culture of giving,” Masiyiwa says. “If your money isn’t talking it’s difficult to have an authentic voice.” Asked about what role philanthropy can play in advancing gender equality, Masiyiwa said: “They say the gender gap is 132 years at the rate we are going. It’s by witnessing firsthand those experiences that we realize even if you provide the training and seed packs to help productivity and achieve food security, at the end of the day you are only supporting this one person, who has so much expected of her.“