Lagos: Women in Nigeria have expressed their approval for Access Bank's recent announcement of a $100 million facility aimed at supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), with a significant portion designated for women-led enterprises. The initiative comes after a successful online petition launched in April, known as the WEEwantMore campaign, which highlighted the funding challenges faced by female entrepreneurs.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the petition, which gained over 2,500 signatures from Nigerian bank customers, urged the government and financial institutions to allocate at least 40 percent of MSME loans to women-owned businesses. In response, Access Bank committed 30 percent of its new facility to women-led enterprises, a move that has been praised by gender advocates and campaigners as a positive step toward addressing Nigeria's financial inclusion gap for women.
The facility, supported by global development finance institutions such as DEG, FinDev Canada, ILX, and OeEB, aims to provide essential funding to women entrepreneurs who have historically faced challenges in securing loans due to discriminatory practices and systemic barriers in traditional financial systems.
Joy Una of Gatefield, an NGO, emphasized the significance of the bank's commitment, stating that women have long been integral to the economy yet have struggled to access necessary capital. She described this initiative as not just progress, but as evidence of the effectiveness of advocacy efforts like the WEEwantMore campaign. The campaign has called for gender-based lending targets and simplified access to government loans to support women-owned businesses, highlighting that over 60 percent of female entrepreneurs cite lack of capital as a major obstacle.
Fifehan Osikanlu, Founder of Eden Group, an NGO, also commended Access Bank's move, describing it as a vital step toward gender-responsive financing that can drive Nigeria's economic growth. She urged other financial institutions to follow suit to close gender gaps and enhance national prosperity.
The coalition behind the WEEwantMore initiative remains committed to pushing for broader structural reforms in the financial sector, aiming to ensure that women are recognized as pivotal contributors to Nigeria's economy rather than merely beneficiaries of charitable acts.