AFARA Unveils Africa-wide Accelerator to Build Bankable Women-Led Energy Projects

Peter Uzoho

A new accelerator targeting Africa’s chronic underinvestment in women-led infrastructure has launched in Lagos, aiming to mobilize $1 billion and scale 50 female-owned energy and infrastructure businesses in five years.

Unveiled at the AFARA Africa Accelerator Immersive Launch Event at the J. Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture & History, AFARA will support female founders from feasibility through to financial close.

The programme is the brainchild of Dolapo Kukoyi, an energy and infrastructure strategist, with over 20 years experience, who said the continent cannot close its infrastructure deficit without women at the table.

“Africa cannot wait. The continent faces a $2.5 trillion infrastructure deficit. We cannot close it without unlocking ALL of our human capital — especially women,” Kukoyi told founders, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem partners at the launch.

According to her, AFARA was created to tackle a funding gap that sees just three of infrastructure capital in Africa go to women-led ventures, and less than one per cent of infrastructure project finance reach female founders.

The consequences, she said, were measurable, considering that 600 million Africans lack electricity, infrastructure deficits shave two–four per cent off Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth annually, and 75 per cent of projects fail to reach financial close.

She explained that women, who make up only six per cent of registered business owners in Sub-Saharan Africa and hold less than one per cent of large-scale energy project ownership, bear the brunt of energy poverty and limited access to services.

“When women lead infrastructure projects, communities see 30 per cent better outcomes in service delivery, utilization and sustainability. Yet the system was not built to include us”, Kukoyi said.

She noted that AFARA’s model centers on a flagship annual accelerator selecting 10 female entrepreneurs each year.

According to her, participants receive a strategic growth plan, investment readiness pack, investor-ready pitch deck, and organized data room, alongside mentorship and visibility support.

For this year, she announced that the accelerator will focus on gas and power, renewables, clean energy access, transport and logistics, and digital infrastructure. ‘

’It will also, support greenfield projects, brownfield scale-ups, acquisitions, concessions, and divestments with proprietary or innovative components”, she noted.

She empasised that the goal was to enable, support, and scale 50 female-owned businesses over five years, building a pipeline of entrepreneurs driving clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, and climate action.

Speaking on the meaning of her accelerator name, AFARA, she explained that the name comes from the Yoruba word for “bridge.” .

Kukoyi also said the programme was designed to bridge the gap between aspiration and execution for African female infrapreneurs.

“Two decades structuring energy and infrastructure deals, I saw the same faces missing at most tables — the African female infrapreneur,” she said.

“I want to be the bridge — from potential to project, from vision to financial close.”

AFARA argues the case is both equitable and economic: projects with women in control deliver 2–3x greater development impact, and every successful female infrapreneur creates jobs, lights communities, and opens doors for the next generation.

The launch event convened founders, investors, and policymakers around the future of financing, innovation, and infrastructure in Africa, with a clear message: scaling women-led ventures is key to closing Africa’s infrastructure gap.