The African Development Bank Group (AfDB), working with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), has committed $750,000 in grants to support women-led businesses in Nigeria, with the initiative announced in Lagos on Thursday, 15 October 2026, as part of a wider effort to improve access to finance, strengthen entrepreneurship and create jobs.

The three-year programme is designed to help women-owned and women-led enterprises overcome barriers to business growth through financial literacy, mentorship, business development services, formalisation support and improved access to markets and financing opportunities.

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According to the announcement, the funding will be distributed among three Nigerian institutions: LSETF, the Pan African Women Empowerment Network (PAWEN) and ImpactHER Foundation. Each organisation is expected to receive $250,000 to deliver tailored support to female entrepreneurs.

The LSETF allocation is expected to support 610 women-led businesses, with the intervention combining practical business guidance and support to improve access to financing.

The programme forms part of the second cohort of the AfDB’s Women Entrepreneurship Enablers Project, financed through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative.

The bank’s Acting Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery and Director-General for Nigeria, Dr Abdul Kamara, said the investment reflected the importance of women-led enterprises to the country’s economic prospects.

“Women-owned and women-led businesses are essential to Nigeria’s economic growth and job creation,” Kamara said.

He added that the partnerships were intended to give entrepreneurs the skills, networks and financing opportunities needed to build sustainable businesses and participate more fully in economic development.

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

The initiative comes as small and medium-sized enterprises continue to play an important role in Nigeria’s commercial activity, providing livelihoods and supporting employment across sectors ranging from retail and agriculture to manufacturing and professional services.

For many smaller businesses, however, expansion can be constrained by limited access to affordable credit, inadequate financial records, weak market connections and the cost of meeting formal business requirements.

Women entrepreneurs may face additional obstacles in accessing finance and investment networks, making business development support an important complement to funding.

The AfDB’s approach combines financial access with practical assistance intended to make participating businesses more prepared for growth.

Financial literacy training can help entrepreneurs manage cash flow and understand borrowing obligations, while mentorship and business advisory services can strengthen planning, record-keeping and day-to-day management.

Business formalisation support may also help eligible enterprises meet requirements for financing and participate in wider commercial markets.

The programme’s longer-term value, however, will depend on whether participating businesses can translate the assistance into stronger revenues, sustainable operations and additional employment.

At the launch in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Sam Egube, welcomed the partnership and described the funding as a potential boost to existing state efforts to support small businesses.

Sanwo-Olu said the LSETF had provided targeted business support and access to affordable financing to more than three million small businesses over the preceding decade.

“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,” the governor said.

The governor also assured entrepreneurs of continued support from the Lagos State Government and its development partners.

The involvement of LSETF places the new programme within an established state-level framework for business support.

Its role is particularly relevant in Lagos, where a large concentration of commercial activity creates opportunities for entrepreneurs but also exposes smaller firms to competition, operating costs and the challenges of securing working capital.

The programme’s emphasis on market access and business readiness is intended to address some of those constraints rather than treating financing as the sole solution.

For women running small enterprises, the ability to secure customers, manage costs and meet the requirements of lenders can be as important to expansion as the availability of funds.

The latest intervention builds on the AfDB’s broader AFAWA initiative, which seeks to narrow the financing gap facing women-owned businesses across Africa.

The bank launched the first cohort of its Women Entrepreneurship Enablers Project in 2022, with a target of supporting 16,000 women-led businesses across 26 African countries.

The Nigerian partnerships extend that approach by working through institutions that can provide business development assistance and connect entrepreneurs with financing opportunities.

PAWEN and ImpactHER Foundation are among the organisations identified as beneficiaries of the latest grant commitment.

ImpactHER, a non-profit organisation focused on supporting African women entrepreneurs, provides training and resources intended to help businesses become more scalable and investment-ready.

Its work includes helping female founders strengthen business operations and prepare to engage with institutional investors.

The $750,000 commitment also follows a separate and substantially larger financing package approved by the AfDB in April 2026 and announced in May.

That package provides $61 million through the Development Bank of Nigeria to expand access to affordable finance for women-owned and women-led businesses across the country, particularly in agriculture.

The financing comprises a $50 million gender-focused credit line, an $8 million facility for agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises and a $3 million grant linked to performance targets under AFAWA.

More than 95 per cent of the total package is earmarked for women-owned and women-led small and medium-sized enterprises and other eligible women-empowered indigenous firms, according to the bank.

The two interventions serve complementary purposes. The $61 million package is structured primarily to expand financing through the Development Bank of Nigeria and participating financial institutions, while the latest $750,000 commitment focuses on support delivered through entrepreneurship-enabling institutions.

The new programme also aligns with the AfDB’s Nigeria Country Strategy Paper for 2025 to 2030, which prioritises inclusive economic growth and economic opportunities for women and young people.

While the funding represents a concrete commitment, its ultimate impact will need to be measured through results rather than the amount announced alone.

Relevant indicators will include the number of businesses that receive support, their ability to access financing, changes in revenue and business survival, and the jobs created or sustained.

For the 610 women-led businesses targeted through LSETF, the immediate opportunity lies in gaining access to practical support that can help them strengthen operations and prepare for expansion.

For the wider Nigerian economy, the programme offers another route to broadening women’s participation in enterprise and employment.

The central test will be whether the grants and accompanying services help participating entrepreneurs build businesses that remain viable beyond the three-year programme.

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If the interventions deliver measurable improvements in business performance and access to finance, the partnership could provide a useful foundation for expanding similar support to women entrepreneurs elsewhere in Nigeria.