Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), a programme initiated by African Development Bank (AfDB) is commiting $50 million to support Nigeria’s women-led enterprises.
The initiative will be funded by the African Guarantee Fund, which is an AfDB fund supporting financial institutions wishing to scale up their support and commitment to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
AfDB and the Bank of Industry (BOI) signed the $50 million loan deal at the Africa Investment Forum which held in Rabat, Morocco on Thursday December 5.
“The transaction will be phased out in three tranches over ten years and will significantly scale up lending from Bank of Industry, Nigeria’s oldest and largest development financing institution, to small and medium enterprises in the country,” AfDB stated.
AfDB stated that the $50 million facility will be utilized to support women-led businesses through the AFAWA ‘Guarantee for Growth’ programme. The programme aims to make funding available for women entrepreneurs and provide technical assistance and other support measures. The African Guarantee Fund will be in charge of implementing the programme.
Speaking at the loan signing ceremony, Beth Dunford, the Vice President for agriculture, human and social development at the African Development Bank said, “This strategic partnership illustrates the commitment of the African Development Bank, especially the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative, to empower women entrepreneurs and foster economic growth in Nigeria.”
In his statement made available to 9am News Nigeria, Olasupo Olusi, MD/CEO Bank of Industry, said: “Bank of Industry is excited to leverage the guarantee framework of the African Guarantee Fund in promoting sustainable growth, gender equity, innovation and advancing more credit to small and medium enterprises in Nigeria in line with [Nigeria] President Bola Tinubu’s government’s Renewed Hope agenda.”
AFAWA has through the African Development Bank, approved more than $2.4 billion in lending for Africa’s women-led small and medium enterprises in a bid to reduce the financing gap which African women in business face compared to men.
It has also partnered with 185 financial institutions responsible for disbursing the funds across 44 African countries. The initiative has unlocked financing to more than 18,600 women-led enterprises. AFAWA is supported by the African Development Bank’s partners and donors: the Women’s Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), G7 participating countries Canada, France, Germany and Italy as well as the Netherlands and Sweden.
Stay tuned to 9am News Nigeria for more Breaking News, Business News, Sports updates And Entertainment Gists.
