In emerging markets, the increasing prominence of women-led enterprises has become a sign of structural economic change. In Nigeria, this change is unfolding on a large scale. Women are now one of the country's fastest growing entrepreneurial groups, building businesses in manufacturing, agriculture, technology, digital services, retail and the creative economy.
However, this expansion masks persistent imbalances. Access to finance remains constrained, even as women-owned companies demonstrate resilience and growth potential in an economy struggling with inflationary pressures, currency instability and tight credit conditions. For policymakers and lenders, the question is no longer whether women entrepreneurs matter for growth, but whether financial systems are evolving fast enough to support them.
Against this backdrop, the 2025 Women in Business Initiative (WIBI) Summit organized by FSDH Merchant Bank in Lagos examined how targeted capital is being deployed to unlock the next phase of women-led enterprise growth.
A large market, structurally underserved
Nigeria has the highest female entrepreneurship rate globally. According to Mastercard's 2025 Empowerment for All report, 83 percent of Nigerian women identify as entrepreneurs, which is well above the regional average in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Yet participation has not translated into proportionate access to capital. Only 23 percent of women-owned businesses in Nigeria have access to formal MSME loans. The African Development Bank estimates that the gender financing gap in Africa is $42 billion, reflecting structural barriers ranging from collateral requirements and short loan periods to conservative credit risk models and limited access to networks.
Its implications extend far beyond gender equality. Women-run enterprises play a major role in household income stability, community reinvestment and micro-level employment creation. Economists are increasingly presenting the financing gap as a development obstacle rather than a social issue, especially in economies seeking diversification and productivity gains.
WIBI as a financing platform
FSDH's Women in Business Initiative has positioned itself within this emerging logic. Over five years, the program has evolved into a structured platform combining loans, partnerships and business development support for women-led enterprises.
Since inception, the bank has distributed over ₦3bn (about $3.9m) in financing to women-owned businesses. Facilities range from long-term loans with flexible repayment structures to working capital lines and short-term, collateral-light credit products designed for firms without fixed assets.
Importantly, the majority of the loan has been enabled through risk-sharing partnerships with institutions including the Bank of Industry, the IFC-supported Gender Programme, the AFAWA Guarantee Framework and WEAV Capital. These arrangements allow blended finance structures that minimize downside risk while providing loans to early-stage and growth-oriented enterprises that are typically excluded from traditional lending.
Also read: FSDH's WIBI Summit: Celebrating women's resilience, ingenuity
Beyond Credit: Building Investable Firms
FSDH's approach reflects a broader shift in development finance thinking: capital alone does not make businesses bigger without parallel investment in capacity.
Through partnerships with organizations such as the Enterprise Development Centre, IFC and WEAV Capital, WIBI has created structured capacity-building programs focused on financial literacy, governance, investor readiness and leadership development. Over 500 women-led SMEs have completed formal training programs, while over 2,000 participants have participated through summits, coaching groups and accelerators.
It aims to transform high-involvement entrepreneurship into bankable, growth-ready enterprises, an outcome that benefits both borrowers and lenders.
A spotlight on the creative economy
A notable focus at the 2025 summit was on Nigeria's creative economy, a sector that is worth more than $7 billion and is increasingly visible in global markets. Women play central roles as creators, designers, content creators, and cultural entrepreneurs, yet financing is limited.
Traditional lenders often view the sector as high-risk, citing irregular cash flows and informal revenue models. The result is a financial disparity for women creators whose businesses require capital and repayment structures compatible with project-based earnings.
In her keynote address, veteran actress and producer Joke Silva argued for intensive skills development and sector-specific financial products that recognize the creative economy as a serious employment and export engine. The FSDH indicated that creative-industry financing is likely to feature more prominently in its 2026 agenda.
Why is gender-focused finance broadly relevant?
The case for gender-informed finance is increasingly being framed in macroeconomic terms. IMF research shows that Nigeria's GDP could increase by 23 percent if the gender gap in labor participation and economic inclusion were closed.
Women-run businesses also show higher repayment discipline and greater reinvestment in education and community welfare, factors that strengthen household resilience in volatile economic environments. For banks, the implication is that well-designed gender-focused products can align social outcomes with risk-adjusted returns.
scaling the model
The next challenge for FSDH is scale. Expanding impact will require deeper capital pools, more sector-specific financial products and better data on women-led enterprise performance. The priority sectors identified include agribusiness, healthcare, digital commerce and creative industries.
As Nigeria's economy diversifies, the effectiveness of its financial system will be measured by how well it allocates capital to productive but disadvantaged sectors. Women-led enterprises fit squarely within that equation.
If the next decade of growth is to be broad-based and more flexible, targeted capital, deployed with discipline rather than emotion, may prove decisive. In that sense, initiatives like WIBI are less about niche inclusion and more about mechanisms for long-term economic competitiveness.
