AfDB allocates $750,000 to female entrepreneurs in Nigeria

For the next three years, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) will commit $750,000 in grants to support women-led businesses across Nigeria.

The scheme is aimed at improving access to finance, strengthening entrepreneurship and creating jobs with three Nigerian institutions receiving $250,000 each to provide business development support to female entrepreneurs.

The three beneficiary institutions are the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, the Pan African Women Empowerment Network and ImpactHER Foundation.

The LSETF will receive $250,000 to support 610 women-led businesses while PAWEN and ImpactHER will each receive an equivalent amount to implement interventions targeting female entrepreneurs.

A statement by AfDB on Friday explained: “The African Development Bank Group and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund have launched a partnership under the second cohort of the Women Entrepreneurship Enablers Project. The project, which aims to strengthen women-led enterprises across Africa, is financed through the Bank Group’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative.

“LSETF is receiving a $250,000 grant to support 610 women-led businesses. It is one of three Nigerian institutions in the programme, alongside the Pan African Women Empowerment Network and ImpactHER Foundation, each of which is also receiving $250,000. Together, the three partnerships represent a $750,000 investment by the African Development Bank Group to deliver tailored interventions that strengthen women-owned and women-led enterprises across Nigeria.”

AfDB’s Acting Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery and Director General for Nigeria, Dr Abdul Kamara, said the investment would help women entrepreneurs expand their businesses and contribute to economic development.

“Women-owned and women-led businesses are essential to Nigeria’s economic growth and job creation. Through these partnerships, we are helping entrepreneurs gain the skills, networks, and financing opportunities they need to grow sustainable enterprises and participate more fully in the country’s economic development.

“Investing in women entrepreneurs is not only a matter of inclusion; it is a catalyst for stronger and more resilient economies,” Kamara said.

The programme, financed through the AfDB’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative, will provide financial literacy training, business formalisation support, mentorship, business development services and access to markets and financing opportunities.

The bank explained that the interventions were designed to address barriers limiting women’s participation in economic activities and improve the capacity of female-owned enterprises to expand and generate employment.

The $750,000 commitment also complements a recent $61m financing package to the Development Bank of Nigeria, designed to expand access to affordable financing for women-owned and women-led businesses nationwide.