Gathai Elizabeth

Elizabeth Gathai is the Regional Head – Africa at Women’s World Banking, where she leads strategy, capital mobilization, and strategic partnerships to advance women’s financial inclusion across the continent. With over 23 years of experience in banking, financial innovation, and MSME finance, she has driven transformative credit and digital initiatives that expand access to capital on a scale.

Before joining Women’s World Banking, Elizabeth held several senior leadership roles at Equity Group Holdings Plc, including Director of Credit, Director of Digitization and Automation, and Group Director – MSME. She led enterprise-wide business transformation, strengthened credit risk and governance frameworks, and championed innovative credit solutions—including AI-enabled credit scoring models that unlocked financing for thousands of small and growing enterprises across East Africa.

In her current role, Elizabeth works closely with financial institutions, regulators, development finance institutions, and global investors to strengthen inclusive financial ecosystems across Africa. Her mandate includes mobilizing catalytic capital, advancing gender-intentional strategies, shaping policy dialogue, and building institutional capabilities to unlock sustainable scale for women and youth entrepreneurs while embedding resilience across markets