FFM 2026 · 30–31 October · Dar es Salaam

Where women-led businesses meet the world.

The Female Founders Marketplace 2026 was held in Dar es Salaam on 30–31 October. Thank you to every founder, speaker and partner who took part. The next edition is coming in 2027.

Join the 2027 List → Partner with us

A founder at the Female Founders Marketplace

2027

The next edition is coming. Join the list.

54%

of Tanzania's MSMEs are women-led

The 2026 Theme

Open for Business.

For years, "Africa is open for business" has been a sentence said in conference halls, usually far from Africa, usually by people who do not run businesses here. We think the sentence is already true — just not where people have been looking for the proof.

The proof is in Kariakoo, where women have been trading since before the term "ecosystem" existed. In the agri-processor in Arusha shipping her first container. In the software founder in Dar building for a market global investors have not yet priced correctly. They did not wait for permission. They did not wait for a grant cycle. They have been open for business the entire time.

So the argument of the 2026 Marketplace is simple: because Africa's women are open for business, Africa is open for business. Not aspirationally. Now. On the floor. In cash.

Looking Ahead

FFM 2026 is done. FFM 2027 is next.

The Female Founders Marketplace 2026 was held in Dar es Salaam on 30–31 October. The next edition is being planned for 2027. Dates, venue and tickets will be announced here first, so join the list to hear before anyone else.

Join the 2027 List → About the Marketplace

The Idea

A marketplace, not a conference.

🏪

Showcase

Exhibition booths where founders sell to real buyers — not just to each other.

🎤

Pitch

Founders take the stage in front of investors, buyers, and partners.

🤝

Deal

The Deal Room: structured, scheduled meetings between founders and capital.

💬

Connect

Panels and fireside chats — the conversations that don't happen over email.

The Numbers on the Table

Africa's women build the businesses. Capital goes somewhere else.

Africa leads the world in women's entrepreneurship. It also has one of the widest funding gaps on earth — across both everyday businesses and the tech economy. The Marketplace exists to close the distance between what women build and who sees it.

$42B

estimated financing gap facing Africa's women entrepreneurs

0.9%

of Africa's $3.2B startup funding in 2025 went to all-women founding teams

$95B

lost to Africa's economy every year through gender inequality (UNDP)

47% → 23%

women are 47% of Africa's STEM graduates, but only 23% of the tech workforce

78c

revenue generated per $1 raised by women-founded startups — against 31c for men

1 in 10

dollars is all that reaches teams with even one female founder

Sources: African Development Bank (AFAWA); Africa: The Big Deal, 2025; Briter Africa Venture Pulse, 2025; UNDP; BCG.

The Room

This is what it looks like when the floor opens.

Trusted By

Institutions that have backed this floor.

The Marketplace has been built with embassies, UN agencies, trade bodies, and cultural institutions who supported women-led business before it was fashionable.

Funders & Institutional Partners