Women at the helm: Elevating the female voice in Nigeria’s financial sector, By Bukola Smith

With initiatives like WIBI demonstrating measurable results, the path forward is clearer than ever: When women have the tools they need, entire economies accelerate.

What is becoming increasingly clear is that women are not just participating in Nigeria’s economic narrative — they are shaping it. From manufacturing and fintech to creative industries and export-oriented businesses, women continue to push boundaries and build enterprises that contribute to national growth… The rise of the female economy is not a trend; it is a structural shift.

Across Nigeria’s financial sector, women are no longer waiting to be included; they are increasingly shaping the direction of banks, investment institutions, and the broader economy. From board appointments to the surge of women-led enterprises, the landscape is shifting slowly, but decisively.

Yet, beneath the progress lies a structural challenge: women still face limited access to capital, fewer market linkages, and weaker institutional support, compared to their male counterparts. Closing this gap requires targeted interventions, credible partnerships, and a financial ecosystem that is intentional about gender equity.

In this landscape, FSDH Merchant Bank’s Women in Business Initiative (WIBI) has emerged as one of the clearest examples of what sustained, institutional commitment to the female economy can deliver. Over five years, the Bank has channelled more than US$3.9 million (₦3 billion+) into women-led businesses through long-term and short-term funding solutions, while backing the financing with structured capacity-building programmes that help entrepreneurs scale.

As gender inclusion becomes a national priority, the question is no longer whether women can lead; it is whether the financial system is ready to evolve with them.

A Financing Gap That Still Holds Women Back

For many women entrepreneurs, the path to business growth is still obstructed by a familiar hurdle: access to finance. Studies consistently show that women-led SMEs in Nigeria face higher rejection rates for credit and often receive smaller loan amounts, even when approved. Much of this stems from collateral requirements and credit scoring models that favour formalised businesses with long operational histories.

FSDH’s WIBI programme attempts to break this cycle. Through a mix of long-tenor loans, flexible moratoriums, and short-term collateral-free facilities, the Bank has backed women-led enterprises at different stages of their growth. This includes over US$550,000 (₦500 million+) in short-term loans that provide immediate cash-flow relief, a lifeline for businesses facing supply chain disruptions or seasonal revenue swings.

The Bank also taps into blended finance by partnering with development institutions such as the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), AFAWA, and the Bank of Industry (BOI). These partnerships de-risk lending and allow the Bank to extend credit at concessionary rates. One such example is the BOI credit line for women entrepreneurs, offering up to ₦100 million at a 15 per cent interest rate for a maximum tenor of four years, which has already been fully deployed.

The model is simple but effective: combine commercial lending with de-risked capital to broaden the pool of bankable women-led enterprises.

One of the less discussed but highly influential aspects of WIBI is the community it has built. Through its annual Women in Business Summit, FSDH has created a national platform where female entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, creatives, and policymakers exchange ideas and amplify their visibility… In November, the fifth-anniversary edition of the summit brought together voices from development finance, film, manufacturing, technology, and the creative industries — sectors where women are increasingly asserting leadership despite structural challenges.

Beyond Capital: The Capability Problem

While access to finance is the most visible barrier, it is not the only one. Many women entrepreneurs struggle with business structure, documentation, financial planning, and market positioning — gaps that affect loan repayment and long-term sustainability.

This is why FSDH has mainstreamed capacity-building into the core of WIBI. Over the last five years, the Bank has trained more than 500 women-led businesses through accelerator programmes designed with the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), WEAV Capital, AGF, and AWEIF.

The programmes share a common mission: to improve business fundamentals while making women entrepreneurs investor-ready. Training ranges from book-keeping and governance to customer acquisition, pitching, and digital marketing. Notably, the Female Founders Growth Programme, delivered with IFC and WEAV Capital, helped 15 female-led tech companies refine their business models and connect with investors, culminating in a US$10,000 non-equity grant.

It is a reminder that capacity building is not a soft add-on to finance — it is the multiplier that determines whether capital creates impact or merely fills temporary gaps.

Networks, Visibility, and the Power of Community

One of the less discussed but highly influential aspects of WIBI is the community it has built. Through its annual Women in Business Summit, FSDH has created a national platform where female entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, creatives, and policymakers exchange ideas and amplify their visibility.

In November, the fifth-anniversary edition of the summit brought together voices from development finance, film, manufacturing, technology, and the creative industries — sectors where women are increasingly asserting leadership despite structural challenges. The conversations underscored a recurring theme: women are driving the next wave of economic growth, but the ecosystem must keep pace.

Events like these matter. For many women entrepreneurs, visibility is currency. It leads to partnerships, investor attention, and opportunities that do not emerge in isolation.

While progress is visible, the task is far from finished. The next phase of gender-focused financial services will require innovations across three fronts. Banks must design products that reflect the cash-flow realities of women-led SMEs, combining working capital, asset financing, insurance, and invoicing tools into bundled solutions.

Partnerships Are Rewriting What’s Possible

Across the African continent, gender-lens investment is becoming mainstream, and Nigerian institutions are beginning to respond. FSDH’s partnerships with BOI, IFC, AGF, AFAWA, and WEAV Capital mirror a growing shift toward multi-stakeholder financing models that combine capital, risk management, and technical support.

These collaborations do more than unlock money, they embed global standards into the local ecosystem, improve due diligence, expand investor confidence, and strengthen the sustainability of women-focused interventions.

For instance, AGF’s partial guarantee structure reduces credit risk for banks, while programmes co-designed with IFC introduce governance and investor-readiness frameworks that improve business resilience. This blend of local knowledge and global discipline continues to push women-led enterprises into previously inaccessible markets.

What Financial Institutions Must Do Next

While progress is visible, the task is far from finished. The next phase of gender-focused financial services will require innovations across three fronts. Banks must design products that reflect the cash-flow realities of women-led SMEs, combining working capital, asset financing, insurance, and invoicing tools into bundled solutions. Digital onboarding, simplified KYC, mobile repayment structures, and digitised credit scoring will help broaden access for micro and informal women-led enterprises. Institutions must invest in gender-disaggregated data to track performance, refine products, and measure long-term impact.

The industry is moving, but the scale of Nigeria’s female economy, projected to expand significantly as more women enter entrepreneurship, creative industries, and tech, demands faster, more coordinated action.

A Turning Point for the Female Economy

What is becoming increasingly clear is that women are not just participating in Nigeria’s economic narrative — they are shaping it. From manufacturing and fintech to creative industries and export-oriented businesses, women continue to push boundaries and build enterprises that contribute to national growth.

The rise of the female economy is not a trend; it is a structural shift.

If more financial institutions adopt a blended model combining finance, capability building, risk-sharing and community, Nigeria could unlock the full potential of millions of women-led businesses, many of which already demonstrate strong repayment discipline, resilience, and growth potential.

With initiatives like WIBI demonstrating measurable results, the path forward is clearer than ever: When women have the tools they need, entire economies accelerate.

Bukola Smith is the Chief Executive at FSDH Merchant Bank.