Podcast Interview
Following his powerful opening address at the 3rd Start-Up Night Africa event in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 17 September 2025, Mr Jules Ngankam, Group Chief Executive Officer of the African Guarantee Fund, was a guest on the Lioness Radio Podcast speaking about the journey from Bias to Bankable - AGF’s Case for Financing Women Entrepreneurs.
This engaging and timely conversation with Lionesses of Africa founder and CEO, Melanie Hawken, served as a rallying point for improving access to finance and support for women entrepreneurs building high-growth businesses in Africa. His message was clear: women are the backbone of Africa’s economies—and when their financial potential is unlocked, the continent’s growth story is rewritten.
This is a must-listen podcast for all those interested in seeing Africa’s women entrepreneurs grow, thrive, and access the finance they need to build sustainable, job-creating, high-growth businesses on the continent.
About Mr Jules Ngankam
Jules Ngankam is the Group Chief Executive Officer of the African Guarantee Fund (AGF). Under his leadership, AGF has expanded its operations in over 40 African countries, partnering with lending institutions to increase access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises through AGF’s risk-sharing guarantees and capacity development assistance. Jules has over 20 years of experience in banking and financial services. Prior to joining AGF, Jules worked with Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays PLC, in various roles including rates strategist, rates trader and treasury vice-president. He holds Master's Degrees in Business Administration, Statistics and Economics, Applied Mathematics, Applied Statistics as well as Computer Science. Jules is passionate about leveraging financial innovation to support financial inclusion and sustainable development. He firmly believes in supporting SMEs to fully realize their potential in driving economic growth, product innovation, regional development and job creation in Africa.
About African Guarantee Fund (AGF)
African Guarantee Fund (AGF) is a specialized guarantee provider whose mission is to facilitate economic development and poverty reduction in Africa. To achieve this, AGF increases access to finance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) across key economic sectors through an array of guarantee products and capacity development assistance. Since inception, AGF has unlocked more than USD 5 billion in SME financing, through partnerships with over 250 partner financial institutions across 45 African countries.
AGF is backed by the following shareholders and sponsors: The Government of Denmark through the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the Government of Spain through the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID), the African Development Bank (AfDB), French Development Agency (AFD), Nordic Development Fund (NDF), Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), German Development Bank (KfW), French Agency for Private Sector (PROPARCO), West African Development Bank (BOAD), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), TechnoServe, Norad, Mastercard Foundation and African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI).
African Guarantee Fund is rated AA- by Fitch Ratings.
For more information, please visit www.agf.africa.