The African Development Bank, AfDB, has approved a loan of $50m to support local enterprises and women-empowered businesses in the agribusiness, manufacturing, healthcare and renewable energy sectors in Nigeria.
AfDB in a statement issued on Wednesday said the loan has been made available to First City Monument Bank Limited.
The statement is entitled ‘Nigeria: African Development Bank bolsters women-empowered businesses with $50m loan to FCMB bank’.
The bank said 30 per cent of the funds was meant to mitigate the effects of the challenging COVID-19 environment and earmarked for underserved women-empowered businesses.
It added that the bank would provide a technical assistance grant of $200,000 through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative, supported by the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative.
The grant, according to the bank, will complement the loan by enabling FCMB to provide non-financial services, including training, and to strengthen its monitoring and reporting functions.
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The AfDB’s Director of Financial Sector Development, Stefan Nalletamby, said, “The African Development Bank is pleased to support FCMB’s strategy to become a dominant player in addressing the funding needs of women-empowered and local enterprises.
“This project will extend valuable resources to critical but underserved segments during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with its adverse macroeconomic impacts.”
