The African Development Bank Group has committed $750,000 in grants to support women-owned and women-led businesses in Nigeria, with three institutions set to receive $250,000 each to improve access to finance, strengthen entrepreneurship and create jobs.
The three-year intervention will be implemented through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), the Pan African Women Empowerment Network (PAWEN) and the ImpactHER Foundation under the second cohort of the bank’s Women Entrepreneurship Enablers Project.
The AfDB announced the partnership in a statement on Friday, October 16, 2026, noting that the funding would support tailored interventions to help female entrepreneurs expand their businesses and improve their contribution to Nigeria’s economy.
LSETF will use its $250,000 grant to support 610 women-led businesses, while PAWEN and ImpactHER will receive the same amount each to implement programmes targeting female entrepreneurs.
The initiative is financed through the AfDB’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), which seeks to address financing gaps and other barriers confronting women entrepreneurs across the continent.
Speaking on the investment, the AfDB’s Acting Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery and Director General for Nigeria, Dr Abdul Kamara, said women-led enterprises were essential to economic growth and employment generation.
“Women-owned and women-led businesses are essential to Nigeria’s economic growth and job creation,” Kamara said, adding that the partnerships would help entrepreneurs access the skills, networks and financing opportunities required to build sustainable businesses.
He described investment in women entrepreneurs as a catalyst for stronger and more resilient economies.
What Programme Offers
The programme will provide financial literacy training, business formalisation support, mentorship, business development services and access to markets and financing opportunities.
According to the bank, these interventions are designed to address structural barriers limiting women’s participation in economic activities while strengthening the capacity of female-owned businesses to expand operations and create employment.
At the launch in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Sam Egube, welcomed the partnership, describing it as a boost to existing efforts to support small businesses in the state.
Sanwo-Olu said LSETF had provided targeted business support and access to affordable financing to more than three million small businesses in Lagos State over the past decade.
He added that women accounted for nearly 60 per cent of businesses supported by the agency, expressing optimism that the AfDB grant would improve revenue growth, business scalability and job creation among women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
The governor assured participating entrepreneurs of continued support from the state government and its development partners.
The $750,000 commitment forms part of the AfDB’s broader efforts to promote inclusive economic growth and expand opportunities for women entrepreneurs across Africa.
