Nigeria's Bank of Industry Expends $6.02M To Women-Owned Businesses

Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BOI) has announced the disbursal of $6.02 million of the $10 million it had committed to investing in the Alitheia Fund. The fund is aimed to support women’s financial inclusion and overall gender equality.

A pioneer in promoting gender-based funding, the $100 million Alitheia Fund is a one-of-a-kind gender-lens fund that intends to support companies that are women-owned, women-led or women-servicing.

Dr. Olasupo Olusi, Managing Director, BoI, spoke at the BoI International Women’s Day (IWD) 2024 event. He was represented by Mabel Ndagi, Executive, Director, Micro Enterprise Directorate, who stated that this year’s IWD theme ‘Inspire Inclusion’ aligned with BoI’s intension to creating workplaces that are diverse and inclusive.          

Dr. Olasupo stated that this move is a $14.27 million endeavour that has been designed to strengthen women-owned businesses. An increased focus has been given to women who hail from the economically disadvantaged parts of society and have been persecuted by conflicts or social unrest.

“As of February 2024, the bank had disbursed the sum of N 5.9 billion to 551 beneficiaries. We are currently working with African Development Bank (AfDB) on its AFAWA initiative, a Pan-African initiative to bridge the $42 billion financing gap women in Africa face,” he said.

BoI’s support to women owned businesses is also aligned well with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to fostering social inclusion, women’s empowerment, and economic upliftment of disadvantaged women and mothers.

Omoyemi Akerele, Founder, Lagos Fashion Week, also spoke about the urgent requirement to inculcate sustainable models in the textile industry in order to help women empowerment in the country.