International Women’s Day
Managing Director Fanta Conde works to unlock capital for women entrepreneurs in West Africa
Spotlight Q&A with CrossBoundary Women for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month
To commemorate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, CrossBoundary is checking in with women leaders serving on CrossBoundary’s teams for their thoughts on gender equality in the workplace and beyond.
According to the World Bank, women’s labor force participation in West Africa is low, with only 30.2% of women participating in the labor force, compared to 68.6% of men.
Briter Bridges’ African Investment Report 2022 found less than 5% of start-up funding raised in 2022 in Africa went to women-only teams, and that female-founded startups only won less than 15% of Africa’s total equity investments.
Boosting capital allocation to women entrepreneurs in the African business and start-up ecosystem is a key area of focus for our West Africa Advisory team.
Helping to drive this change is Fanta Conde, Managing Director and Deputy Head of West Africa Advisory for CrossBoundary Advisory.
Fanta has an MBA from The Wharton School and completed her undergraduate degree in Finance with a minor in Spanish at the City University of New York, Baruch College. Prior to CrossBoundary, she worked at BlackRock in New York, focusing on the company’s proprietary investment management technology platform called Aladdin. Fanta started her career as an investment banking summer analyst at JP Morgan in the Healthcare coverage group then the Latin America M&A group. She worked on several agribusiness and waste management transactions as part of the Malian Investment Facilitation Platform, and now focuses on facilitating investments in projects across several sectors in West Africa.
Name: Fanta Conde
Title: Managing Director, Deputy Head of West Africa Advisory, CrossBoundary Advisory
Location: Guinea / West Africa
What excites you most about your current work?
Fanta: At CrossBoundary we strive to attract capital to underserved markets. That is our mission and that is what excites me about my work. I have the opportunity to impact businesses in markets I truly care about by helping them raise capital they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. These are businesses and entrepreneurs I can relate to as they look like me and/or offer products or services I have used growing up or would like to see my children use in the future.
Our support allows these businesses to grow and create more job opportunities for Africans around the continent. In some cases, we work on programs that specifically target job creation for youth and women, and those in particular, fire me up even more.
In the markets/sectors you serve, where have you seen the gender equity gap occur?
Everywhere! That’s the short answer. In the underserved markets we cover, and especially in Africa, the little capital available is concentrated with men. Women generally struggle to access capital at every level. That goes for women fund managers, women founders, women entrepreneurs, women at local markets, etc. In fact, it is all linked. Men, as the majority of capital allocators, are more likely to fund other men instead of women, and that continues down the chain, limiting women’s access to capital even more as we reach the bottom of the pyramid.
Furthermore, our countries in West Africa, for example, have cultures that have historically treated women as inferior to men, such as keeping young girls at home while boys were sent to school. This led to a lower rate of literacy amongst women, which further limits their access all around to better job opportunities, to capital (equity or debt), to travel opportunities, etc.
What is your superpower or biggest strength?
My ability to connect with others. As investment advisors, we are in the business of people. Granted, technical skills are required to deliver the great work we do for our clients, but we also need to be adept at building and maintaining relationships to onboard our clients, earn their trust, and serve their interests. I truly enjoy getting to know our potential or existing partners and clients and that allows me to better help them achieve their objectives through our services.
Which woman in your life has influenced your career in a positive way?
I have the privilege to have Ibukun Awosika, who is an influential Nigerian businesswoman and now pastor, as a mentor. She has always stressed the importance of walking in your purpose and has led by example. At CrossBoundary, I feel like the work I do is very much aligned with my purpose, which makes it all the more enjoyable.
Through her work and with young women like me, Mrs. Awosika promotes leadership, strength, and confidence, which are all three attributes I need daily in my career. She has been a great guide as I manage and strive to find a balance between my career and my life outside of work.
However, what struck me the most about Mrs. Awosika is her humility. I would never forget our hour-long lunch meetings in her hotel suite every summer when she would visit New York and I was just a young analyst beginning my career. I couldn’t believe a “big shot” businesswoman like her would just have me in her space, introduce me to her family, and make me feel at home while sharing so much good advice, without even knowing me that well. She saw something in me and was invested in me and that alone was enough to motivate me. It also reinforced to me the importance of lifting others as we rise, something that we women should especially make sure we do as we do our part to help close the gender equity gap.
Why do we need more women in leadership?
Because there are simply not enough women in leadership and that is unacceptable. Without more women in leadership, women’s fate will continue to be left up to people that for the most part do not understand our journeys, our needs, our interests and can only poorly judge our potential.
More from this series:
Inspired by the women working at CrossBoundary? Passionate about creating lasting change in underserved markets? Learn more about our current openings and apply to join our team here.
CrossBoundary is a mission-driven investment firm committed to unlocking the power of capital for sustainable growth and strong returns in underserved markets. Our team members come from diverse backgrounds but share several qualities: curiosity, humility, integrity, a drive for excellence, and a bias for action. Sound like you? Drop us a line.
