$335K UK Grant Boosts Funding for Women Entrepreneurs in Africa
The UK Government and FSD Africa have committed $335,000 to establish an investment network aimed at mobilising $2.7 million in local capital for women-led businesses in Nigeria over the next three years.
The initiative seeks to address barriers preventing women entrepreneurs from accessing growth financing, despite their significant contribution to the country’s small-business sector.
The funding, provided through FSD Africa with support from the UK Government through the British High Commission in Nigeria, will establish the RiTA Investment Network, an initiative of Rising Tide Africa, a pan-African network of women angel investors.
The network will target 15 small and growing businesses led by women, connecting them with Nigerian investors, including high-net-worth individuals, angel investors and family offices.
According to the initiative’s promoters, the intervention will provide financing in naira, reducing the currency risks associated with dollar-denominated loans for businesses earning revenue in the local currency.
Nigeria’s small businesses face a financing gap estimated at about ₦13 trillion, with 19 out of every 20 unable to access formal finance, according to figures cited by the initiative.
Women entrepreneurs face additional challenges, owning about 40 per cent of the country’s small businesses but reportedly being rejected for credit more than three times as often as their male counterparts.
The initiative said the problem often stemmed not from the viability of women-owned businesses but from their inability to provide assets, particularly land, traditionally required by banks as collateral.
Speaking on the investment, the Head of Green Growth and Private Sector Development at the British High Commission, Paul Healey, said the partnership would help remove barriers preventing promising businesses from obtaining the capital needed to expand.
“Women entrepreneurs are building successful businesses across Nigeria, but many still face barriers to accessing the investment they need to grow. This partnership between the UK Government, FSD Africa and Rising Tide Africa is changing that,” he said.
Healey added that the initiative would strengthen connections between entrepreneurs and investors, creating opportunities for businesses to expand, generate jobs and contribute to Nigeria’s economic growth.
The Director for Early-Stage Finance at FSD Africa, Juliet Munro, said Nigeria had substantial domestic capital that could support women-led businesses but lacked sufficient channels to direct such funding to smaller enterprises.
“Nigeria does not lack capital. Women angel investors in Rising Tide Africa have shown for years that they will back women-led businesses with their own money. The RiTA Investment Network gives that capital the structure and instrument to grow, in naira, and at scale,” she said.
The network will provide mainly revenue-based financing, under which repayments fluctuate with a business’s sales. The arrangement is intended to support profitable businesses that lack conventional collateral and do not want to surrender ownership through equity financing.
To attract investors, the platform will operate with professional credit assessment, an investment committee, an advisory board and monitoring and reporting systems designed to improve transparency and confidence in the businesses receiving funding.
Yemi Keri, a general partner and spokesperson for the RiTA Investment Network, said the initiative would strengthen the capacity of women-led businesses to obtain financing from lenders who understand their operations.
“Women-led businesses in Nigeria are growing, and they need lenders who understand how they work. We founded RiTA to give investors a disciplined way to lend to them, one business at a time. FSD Africa’s support lets us build the structure, the discipline and the data to do this at scale,” she said.
FSD Africa’s funding will cover the cost of establishing the network during its first three years, including its team, legal structure, governance and operational systems.
Rising Tide Africa has already secured about $1.5 million in soft commitments from its network, while the new platform aims to mobilise approximately $2.7 million over three years.
The network completed its first transaction in September 2026 through a syndicated corporate note to Ororo Waste Management Limited, while two additional businesses are undergoing structuring and due diligence.
Beyond the initial financing target, the initiative is expected to lay the groundwork for a proposed $10 million naira-denominated growth debt fund for women-led businesses, with the eventual participation of institutional investors.
It also plans to develop resources for other emerging fund managers, including legal templates for investments under the Investments and Securities Act 2025, guidance on revenue-based financing in naira and credit performance data on women-led businesses.
The partners said the resources would help demonstrate the viability of financing women-owned enterprises at scale while reducing the barriers facing other local investment managers.
The initiative forms part of FSD Africa’s broader early-stage finance strategy to mobilise African capital for small and growing businesses through partnerships with angel investors, private wealth holders, local fund managers, corporations and institutional investors.
