By Annette Ikponmwonba | August 20, 2026
Key Points
- The Federal Government says Nigeria has a $14.8 billion annual gender financing opportunity that banks and fintechs can help unlock.
- The government wants financial institutions to redesign products and lending models to improve women’s access to capital.
- Vice President Kashim Shettima said gender inclusion commitments must have an owner, a measurable target and a deadline.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, says it is reviewing capital market entry criteria to make participation more accessible to women and small businesses.
- The government is seeking stronger collaboration between financial institutions, fintechs, investors, state governments and development partners.
Main Story
The Federal Government has challenged banks, fintech companies and other financial institutions to help unlock Nigeria’s estimated $14.8 billion annual gender financing opportunity by developing financial products that better serve women, The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, made the call at the Second National Gender Inclusion Conference, SheIsIncluded 2026, in Abuja.
The conference, themed “Designing for Delivery: Financing, Systems and Scale for Women’s Economic Transformation,” focused on strategies for improving women’s access to finance and expanding their participation in economic activities.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said Nigeria’s financial system has historically been designed around collateral, an area where women often have less access to assets, She therefore urged banks and financial institutions to rethink their lending models and close the financing gap facing women, The minister said her ministry is prepared to open its programme pipelines to financial institutions interested in testing and scaling products targeted at women.
She also called on state governments to co-finance and localise national programmes, while urging development partners to maintain a coordinated map of ongoing interventions to ensure resources reach underserved communities, The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, represented by the Special Adviser to the President on General Duties, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, said meaningful commitments to women’s economic empowerment must have an owner, a metric and a deadline, He said the private sector would be critical to delivering the scale required, as government can establish the rules but capital, technology and execution would largely come from financial institutions, fintechs, investors and development partners.
The Issues
The major challenge is the persistent financing gap preventing many Nigerian women from accessing productive capital and expanding their businesses, The government says traditional financing models often rely heavily on collateral, which can disadvantage women who have lower levels of asset ownership.
Limited participation in Nigeria’s formal capital market is another concern, The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Director-General, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, represented by Ojone Kabir, said women’s participation in the capital market remains low.
The financing challenge also extends to small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, many of which struggle with compliance requirements and access to investment capital, Another issue is coordination. With several government agencies, development partners and private institutions running inclusion programmes, there is a need for better coordination to prevent duplication and ensure interventions reach the people most in need.
What’s Being Said
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said financial institutions must move beyond conventional models and develop products capable of reaching women who are currently underserved, Vice President Shettima said successful inclusion programmes must be measurable and accountable, insisting that commitments should be tracked and reviewed.
Dr. Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, said the inability of productive capital to reach productive citizens prevents Nigeria from achieving its full economic potential, He noted that credible estimates suggest national output could be materially higher by as much as 23% if women had greater and more equal participation in the economy.
Meanwhile, the SEC said it is reviewing entry requirements into the capital market to make them more favourable to women and SMEs, Women were also encouraged to explore crowdfunding platforms within the capital market, which the SEC said could provide financing, networking and visibility opportunities.
What’s Next
The Federal Government is expected to deepen collaboration with banks, fintechs, investors and development partners to expand financing opportunities for women, The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is also offering its programme pipelines as potential platforms for financial institutions to test and scale new products targeted at women.
The SEC’s review of capital market entry criteria could create additional opportunities for women entrepreneurs and SMEs to raise funds through the capital market, The government is also pushing for stronger state-level participation through co-financing and localisation of national economic inclusion programmes.
The Nigeria for Women Project, NFWP, remains another major intervention. Originally approved in 2018 through a $100 million International Development Association, IDA, credit, the programme was designed to improve women’s livelihoods by supporting skills development, economic activities and business ventures. In 2024, the Federal Government sought an extension of its implementation deadline from the World Bank.
Bottom Line
Nigeria’s $14.8 billion gender financing gap represents both an economic challenge and a major commercial opportunity for banks, fintechs and investors, The Federal Government’s message is increasingly shifting from simply encouraging women’s financial inclusion to demanding measurable financing, stronger private-sector participation and redesigned financial products.
If financial institutions can translate these commitments into accessible capital, better products and scalable investment channels, greater participation by women could unlock significant additional economic output for Nigeria.
