UK and FSD Africa put $335,000 behind loans for women-led Nigerian firms
- The UK government and FSD Africa have committed $335,000 to set up the RiTA Investment Network.
- The platform, run by Rising Tide Africa, aims to raise $2.7 million locally to back 15 women-led businesses.
- Organisers say women-owned firms are rejected for credit far more often than men's because they lack collateral.
Women wey dey run small business for Nigeria often hear the same answer when dem ask bank for money: no collateral, no loan. A new funding platform wey UK government and FSD Africa dey back dey try to offer anoda way.
The two partners don commit $335,000, about £247,000, to set up the RiTA Investment Network, according to statements from the British High Commission in Nigeria. Rising Tide Africa, a pan-African group of women angel investors, dey build the network.
The plan na to pull in $2.7 million, roughly ₦3.75 billion, from Nigerian investors, including wealthy individuals, angel investors and family offices. That money go reach 15 small and growing businesses wey women own.
Why the gap matter
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimate say small businesses for Nigeria face financing shortfall of about ₦13 trillion. According to the organisers, 19 out of every 20 no fit get formal finance.
Women face harder wall. Dem own about 40 per cent of the country small businesses but dem dey turn dem down for credit more than three times as often as men, the organisers said. The usual reason no be weak business sense or poor repayment record, but na land and other assets wey banks demand as security.
Paul Healey, wey head green growth and private sector development at the British High Commission, said women dey build successful businesses but still dey struggle to find growth capital. He said the partnership mean to link dem with investors, create jobs and support the economy.
Juliet Munro, director for early-stage finance at FSD Africa, said the country get plenty private money but too few channels to move am into smaller companies. She said Rising Tide Africa members don show say dem go put their own money behind women-led firms, and the new network give that capital structure to grow in naira.
That local-currency point matter. Much growth funding for Africa dey come in dollars, and when naira weaken, repaying dollar debt become more expensive for businesses wey dey earn in naira.
Most of the lending go be revenue-based finance, where repayments go up and down with a business sales. That suit profitable firms without conventional collateral wey no want give away ownership.
Yemi Keri, general partner at the network, said women-led businesses need lenders wey understand how dem operate. She said the platform design to lend to dem one business at a time, with discipline.
The network get about $1.5 million in soft commitments from its investor network already. It complete its first deal in September 2026, a syndicated corporate note to Ororo Waste Management Limited, and two more businesses dey go through due diligence.
Wetin happen next
The FSD Africa money go cover the network team, legal structure, governance and operating systems for its first three years, after which dem expect am to sustain itself through fees.
The organisers dey target about $8 of Nigerian private capital for every dollar FSD Africa put in. Dem also expect the network to lay groundwork for a planned $10 million naira-denominated growth debt fund for women-led businesses.
