Building on last year’s success, the Network of Women in Finance (NEWFin) has launched the 2026 NEWFin Young Women Professionals Development Program (YWPDP) on 24 November 2025.
The YWPDP is an initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of female leaders in the financial sector by equipping young women with critical skills, knowledge, and leadership capabilities. Targeting young women professionals entering or already working in the finance profession, the Program provides a holistic learning experience through in-person workshops focused on leadership, self-development and banking fundamentals, as well as mentorships.
In this year’s YWPDP, which is implemented by SWIFT, another initiative of the National Bank of Ethiopia in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, NEWFin is activating a digital learning platform on the NEWFin website. The platform hosts a package of interactive video courses on leadership and banking to support self-paced flexible learning for NEWFin members and features quizzes and certificates upon completion.
Like last year, the YWDP will utilize IFC/LPI-certified international trainers who will provide weeks of training-of-trainers (ToT) for 30 new trainers in addition to refresher training to last year’s 20 trainers. The trainers will in turn provide training, from December 2025 to April 2026, to 1,000 young women trainees selected from scores of financial institutions.
Last year, the Program graduated 302 young women professionals selected from 19 banks after they received training in leadership, banking and insurance topics. In addition, 277 mentees worked with 97 mentors who were selected for their seniority in the finance sector in Ethiopia.