Women running businesses in Lagos have fresh support coming their way, but anyone expecting a cash alert should hold on. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced a $750,000 funding package aimed at strengthening women-owned enterprises in Nigeria, and 610 of the businesses set to benefit are in Lagos State, according to a report by Legit.ng.
The catch, and it is an important one: the money is going to institutions, not straight into the pockets of individual traders and founders. It will pay for training, mentoring and other business support, not handouts.
Who gets the money
According to the report, the $750,000 will be split equally among three Nigerian organisations, with each receiving $250,000. They are the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), the Pan African Women Empowerment Network (PAWEN) and the ImpactHER Foundation.
The programme is designed to run for three years. Over that period, the organisations are expected to help female entrepreneurs through business training, mentorship, financial literacy lessons, support with formalising their businesses and initiatives that open up access to markets.
LSETF, the Lagos State Government agency focused on jobs and enterprise, will use its share to support 610 women-led and women-owned enterprises across the state. PAWEN and ImpactHER will run their own separate programmes with their allocations.
Part of a wider AfDB push for women
The intervention sits under the AfDB's Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), a programme set up to tackle the financing hurdles that women in business face across the continent. Through its Women Entrepreneurship Enablers Project, the bank backs organisations that offer business development services and help women reach financial opportunities.
The three Nigerian bodies were picked as part of the project's second cohort, the report said.
The aim, per the report, is to help participating businesses run better, manage their money more effectively and become more attractive to investors. Entrepreneurs who want to grow but are held back by limited financial know-how, shaky business structures or narrow market access are likely to gain the most.
No cash-sharing, no fixed payments
Legit.ng was clear on this point, reporting: "Although the AfDB has committed $750,000, the funding does not represent a cash-sharing programme for individual entrepreneurs. The bank has not announced fixed payments for the 610 Lagos businesses."
Citing a report by MSME Africa, the outlet said the funds would instead cover training, mentorship, advisory services and similar business development activities.
