UK Backs N3.75bn Drive to Finance Women-Owned Businesses in Nigeria

Michael Olugbode in Abuja The UK Government and FSD Africa are targeting N3.75 billion in domestic investment to finance women-led businesses in Nigeria, in a move aimed at addressing a funding gap that continues to constrain the growth of small enterprises. The initiative, backed by a $335,000 grant from FSD Africa with funding from the UK Government through the British High Commission in Nigeria, seeks to mobilise capital from Nigerian investors to support 15 small and growing businesses owned by women over the next three years. The investment will be channeled through the RiTA Investment Network, established by Rising Tide Africa, a pan-African network of women angel investors, to connect women entrepreneurs with high-net-worth individuals, angel investors and family offices. The intervention comes amid persistent difficulties faced by small businesses in accessing formal financing, particularly women-owned enterprises, which often struggle to meet conventional lending requirements despite their potential to generate jobs and stimulate economic growth. Figures cited by the initiative indicate that Nigeria’s small businesses face a financing gap of about N13 trillion, with 19 out of every 20 unable to access formal finance. Women entrepreneurs face additional barriers, with women owning about 40 per cent of the country’s small businesses but reportedly being rejected for credit more than three times as often as their male counterparts. The initiative’s promoters said the problem was often linked to the inability of women entrepreneurs to provide assets, particularly land, as collateral for bank loans, rather than a lack of viable business opportunities. Speaking on the initiative, the Head of Green Growth and Private Sector Development at the British High Commission, Paul Healey, said the partnership would strengthen access to investment for women entrepreneurs and help them expand their businesses. “Women entrepreneurs are building successful businesses across Nigeria, but many still face barriers to accessing the investment they need to grow. This partnership between the UK Government, FSD Africa and Rising Tide Africa is changing that,” he said. Healey said the initiative would create stronger connections between businesses and investors, opening up opportunities for enterprises to grow, generate employment and contribute to Nigeria’s economy. The Director for Early-Stage Finance at FSD Africa, Juliet Munro, said Nigeria had substantial private wealth that could support growing businesses but lacked effective channels to connect domestic investors with enterprises in need of capital. “Nigeria does not lack capital. Women angel investors in Rising Tide Africa have shown for years that they will back women-led businesses with their own money. The RiTA Investment Network gives that capital the structure and instrument to grow, in naira, and at scale,” she said. A key feature of the initiative is its emphasis on naira-denominated financing, which is intended to reduce the foreign-exchange risks associated with dollar loans for businesses whose revenues are earned in the local currency. The network will primarily deploy revenue-based financing, an arrangement under which repayments rise or fall in line with a business’s sales. The model is designed for profitable enterprises that lack conventional collateral and want to avoid surrendering ownership stakes to investors. To attract domestic capital, the platform will operate with professional credit assessment, an investment committee, an advisory board and monitoring and reporting systems intended to give investors greater confidence in the businesses they support. Yemi Keri, a general partner and spokesperson for the RiTA Investment Network, said the platform would provide a structured approach to financing women-led businesses while helping investors better understand their operations and growth prospects. “Women-led businesses in Nigeria are growing, and they need lenders who understand how they work. We founded RiTA to give investors a disciplined way to lend to them, one business at a time. FSD Africa’s support lets us build the structure, the discipline and the data to do this at scale,” she said. FSD Africa’s funding will cover the cost of establishing the network during its first three years, including its team, legal framework, governance and operating systems, before it becomes self-sustaining through fees. Rising Tide Africa has already secured about $1.5 million in soft commitments from its network, while the RiTA Investment Network aims to mobilise approximately $2.7 million in domestic investment over three years. The network completed its first transaction in September 2026 through a syndicated corporate note to Ororo Waste Management Limited, while two other businesses are undergoing structuring and due diligence. Beyond the immediate target, the initiative is expected to provide the foundation for Rising Tide Africa’s proposed $10 million naira-denominated growth debt fund for women-led businesses, with the longer-term goal of attracting institutional investors. It also plans to develop legal templates, guidance on revenue-based financing in naira and credit performance data to help other emerging fund managers assess the viability of investing in women-led enterprises. The initiative forms part of FSD Africa’s broader strategy to mobilise domestic and international capital for small and growing businesses across Africa, working with angel networks, private investors, local fund managers, corporations and institutional investors.