AfDB Wins Top Africa SABRE Award for AFAWA
The African Development Bank Group has secured the Gold Award for Best Global Campaign at the 2026 Africa SABRE Awards, in recognition of its flagship access-to-finance communications initiative, AFAWA: Banking on Women.
The award will be formally presented at a ceremony in Johannesburg in March, during the Public Relations and Communications Association’s South Africa Conference.
Judged under the Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation and Engagement (SABRE) Awards, the Africa SABRE Awards celebrate excellence in public relations, communications and content creation originating from across the continent. This year’s competition attracted more than 500 entries from leading global agencies and African communications firms representing major multinational and regional brands.
The Bank’s winning campaign highlighted the scale and impact of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) programme, which aims to close the financing gap faced by women entrepreneurs on the continent. The campaign centred on a series of “AFAWA Stories” videos and high-profile participatory events held in Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Rabat, Abidjan and other cities.
Through on-the-ground storytelling, the videos took audiences to Kenya, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Côte d’Ivoire, amplifying the voices of women entrepreneurs and financial institutions participating in AFAWA programmes.
AFAWA addresses an estimated US$49 billion financing gap affecting Africa’s women-led businesses by scaling access to finance, advocating for gender-affirmative policies and regulations, strengthening private-sector partnerships, and providing skills training and mentorship.
“The goal of the AFAWA: Banking on Women campaign was to influence Africa’s commercial banking sector to unlock billions of US dollars in lending to women-led businesses,” said Jemimah Njuki, Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society at the African Development Bank Group. “The campaign also enabled our donors to connect directly with the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs benefiting from AFAWA.”
Measured campaign outcomes included a 44 per cent increase in partner commercial banks joining the AFAWA programme, a 241 per cent rise in women entrepreneurs receiving loans or business training, a 466 per cent increase in financing disbursed to women-led businesses, and a 16 per cent expansion in country participation.
Commenting on the awards, Paul Holmes, creator of the SABRE Awards, said the quality of African storytelling stood out for its creativity and impact. He noted that public relations campaigns across the continent are becoming increasingly data-driven and more closely linked to measurable business results.
This marks the African Development Bank Group’s first Africa SABRE Awards win. The AFAWA campaign will now advance to compete at the Global SABRE Awards, which recognise the world’s top 50 public relations programmes and will be held in Miami, Florida, in October.
The honour represents the third communications award for the AFAWA campaign and the Bank’s twelfth international recognition for agriculture-, human- and social-development-focused communications.
