UK and FSD Africa put $335,000 behind loans for women-led Nigerian firms

Women who run small businesses in Nigeria often hear the same answer when they ask a bank for money: no collateral, no loan. A new funding platform backed by the UK government and FSD Africa is trying to offer a different route.

The two partners have committed $335,000, about £247,000, to set up the RiTA Investment Network, according to statements from the British High Commission in Nigeria. The network is being built by Rising Tide Africa, a pan-African group of women angel investors.

The plan is to pull in $2.7 million, roughly ₦3.75 billion, from Nigerian investors, including wealthy individuals, angel investors and family offices. That money is meant to reach 15 small and growing businesses owned by women.

Why the gap matters

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that small businesses in Nigeria face a financing shortfall of about ₦13 trillion. According to the organisers, 19 out of every 20 cannot get formal finance.

Women face a harder wall. They own about 40 per cent of the country's small businesses but are turned down for credit more than three times as often as men, the organisers said. The usual reason is not weak business sense or a poor repayment record, but the land and other assets banks demand as security.

Paul Healey, who heads green growth and private sector development at the British High Commission, said women are building successful businesses but still struggle to find growth capital. He said the partnership is meant to link them with investors, create jobs and support the economy.

Juliet Munro, director for early-stage finance at FSD Africa, said the country has plenty of private money but too few channels to move it into smaller companies. She said Rising Tide Africa's members have shown they will put their own money behind women-led firms, and the new network gives that capital structure to grow in naira.

That local-currency point matters. Much growth funding in Africa comes in dollars, and when the naira weakens, repaying dollar debt becomes more expensive for businesses that earn in naira.

Most of the lending will be revenue-based finance, where repayments rise and fall with a business's sales. That suits profitable firms without conventional collateral that do not want to give away ownership.

Yemi Keri, general partner at the network, said women-led businesses need lenders who understand how they operate. She said the platform is designed to lend to them one business at a time, with discipline.

The network has about $1.5 million in soft commitments from its investor network already. It completed its first deal in September 2026, a syndicated corporate note to Ororo Waste Management Limited, and two more businesses are going through due diligence.

What happens next

The FSD Africa money will cover the network's team, legal structure, governance and operating systems for its first three years, after which it is expected to sustain itself through fees.

The organisers are targeting about $8 of Nigerian private capital for every dollar FSD Africa puts in. The network is also expected to lay the groundwork for a planned $10 million naira-denominated growth debt fund for women-led businesses.