The African Development Bank Group has approved $750,000 in grants to support women-led businesses across Nigeria.
The funds will be disbursed under a three-year programme meant to widen access to finance, strengthen entrepreneurship and create jobs.
The money will be shared equally among three Nigerian institutions, each getting $250,000 to provide business development support to female entrepreneurs.
The bank made this known in a statement issued on Friday, announcing a partnership with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) under the second cohort of its Women Entrepreneurship Enablers Project.
The statement named the three beneficiaries as the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, the Pan African Women Empowerment Network (PAWEN) and the ImpactHER Foundation.
Under the arrangement, the LSETF will use its $250,000 to support 610 women-led businesses, while PAWEN and ImpactHER will each get the same amount to carry out interventions aimed at female entrepreneurs.
The statement read, “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.”
Commenting on the initiative, the 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 grow 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.
Financed through the AfDB’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative, the programme will offer 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 tackle the barriers limiting women’s participation in economic activities, and to improve the capacity of female-owned enterprises to expand and generate employment.
At the launch in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Sam Egube, welcomed the partnership and said it would reinforce existing efforts to support small businesses in the state.
“In the past 10 years, LSETF has provided targeted, encompassing business support and access to affordable financing to over 3 million small businesses in Lagos State,” the governor said.
He noted that women made up nearly 60 per cent of the businesses supported by the agency, and expressed optimism that the AfDB funding would improve their performance.
“With close to 60 per cent women-owned businesses in our portfolio, this seed funding from the AfDB will add catalytic results in the revenue growth, business scalability and job creation factors of these women MSMEs,” he added.
Sanwo-Olu assured participating entrepreneurs of the continued support of the state government and its development partners.
The AfDB said the initiative forms part of its wider efforts to promote inclusive economic growth and expand opportunities for women entrepreneurs across Africa.
It recalled that the first cohort of the Women Entrepreneurship Enablers Project was launched in 2022, with a target of supporting 16,000 women-led businesses across 26 African countries.
The bank added that the latest intervention aligns with its Nigeria Country Strategy Paper for 2025–2030, which prioritises inclusive growth and economic opportunities for women and young people.
The $750,000 commitment also complements a recent $61m financing package to the Development Bank of Nigeria, designed to widen access to affordable financing for women-owned and women-led businesses nationwide.
