Selma-based consortium funds 60+ organizations. African fintech crosses $900M in 2025. Egypt and Afreximbank formalize gold value chain infrastructure. | Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Three stories define capital mobilization today.
Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium deployed $1.2 million in 2025 through its Black Girls Dream Fund, Innovation Fund, and Defense Fund, supporting 60+ organizations and 25+ small businesses across 13 Southern states.
Africa’s fintech sector now hosts 1,600+ startups after raising $900 million in H1 2025, driven by mobile-first solutions reaching underbanked populations.
And Egypt’s Central Bank and Afreximbank signed an MoU establishing a pan-African gold bank program to formalize gold value chains and strengthen continental reserves.
The Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium (Southern Black Girls), based in Selma, Alabama, deployed over $1.2 million in 2025 through three capital channels: the Black Girls Dream Fund, the Innovation Fund, and the Black Girls Defense Fund.
The $1.2 million supported 60+ Black women-led organizations and 25+ small businesses across 13 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Southern Black Girls operates as a consortium of four anchor institutions—Appalachian Community Fund, BlackBelt Community Foundation, Fund for Southern Communities, and TruthSpeaks Innovation Foundation.
These anchors pool resources and deploy them through three mechanisms:
Southern Black Girls has deployed $10.2 million to 220+ Black women-led organizations and nearly $500,000 to 800+ girls through microgrants.
