A new gender inclusion report unveiled at the 4th Gender Impact Investment Summit in Lagos has highlighted persistent financing gaps facing women-led businesses in Nigeria, despite women owning nearly 40 per cent of enterprises in the country. According to a statement on Friday, the report, released by the Impact Investors……
A new gender inclusion report unveiled at the 4th Gender Impact Investment Summit in Lagos has highlighted persistent financing gaps facing women-led businesses in Nigeria, despite women owning nearly 40 per cent of enterprises in the country.
According to a statement on Friday, the report, released by the Impact Investors Foundation, found that women continue to receive a disproportionately small share of formal credit, underscoring broader structural barriers to financial inclusion affecting women, youths and persons with disabilities.
The baseline study, described as the first of its kind within Nigeria’s impact investment ecosystem, is expected to serve as a benchmark for tracking progress on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in investment and economic policy. Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) are increasingly recognised as critical leverage points; by addressing the institutional gaps that leave women, youths and persons with disabilities-led businesses under-resourced, Nigeria can catalyse a new wave of data-driven investment and productivity.
The summit, themed ‘From Commitment to Action: Strengthening Inclusive Gender Lens Investment for Nigeria’s Growth,’ is said to build on the momentum of previous years, where over 50 organisations pledged support for inclusive capital.
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“The GESI Baseline Report is more than a document; it is the data-driven foundation required to fix structural barriers in our financial system,” stated Etemore Glover, the Chief Executive Officer of the Impact Investors Foundation. “While women own nearly 40% of Nigerian businesses, they receive a disproportionately small share of formal credit. This report empowers stakeholders to identify acute gaps and benchmark progress as we move toward a truly inclusive economy.”
She added that the 4th GIIS serves as the definitive platform to translate high-level pledges into tangible, measurable results for women, youth, and the over 35 million Nigerians living with disabilities.
The Chair of GSG Nigeria Partner and Vice Chair of GSG Impact, Ibukun Awosika, in her comments, emphasised the significance of this milestone at the 4th GIIS, saying, “By providing the data-driven foundation needed to benchmark progress, it demands that stakeholders not only mobilise inclusive capital at scale but also embed GESI and gender lens investment principles into every investment decision and policy. This summit is the definitive platform to close investment gaps, unlocking Nigeria’s full economic potential and ensuring our growth is truly equitable and transformative.”
The keynote address, ‘Turning Gender Equity into Economic Advantage,’ presented by His Highness Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi II CON, Sarkin Kano, stressed the need for the intentional dismantling of structural barriers that hinder women’s financial inclusion, noting that gender equality is not merely a social imperative but a critical economic lever for national prosperity.
To facilitate immediate economic impact, the 4th GIIS introduced enhanced Deal Rooms, operating both virtually and in-person. These rooms are specifically designed to provide a direct matchmaking pipeline, connecting investors with ready-to-scale, women-led enterprises, leading to a soft commitment of about $250,000 from investors.
In addition, the summit featured technical sessions which emphasised institutional capacity building, equipping both public and private sector actors with the GESI diagnostic tools, investment readiness tools and data capturing frameworks necessary to mainstream GESI and gender lens investing (GLI) into their core operations.
IIF maintained that the 4th Gender Impact Investment Summit acts as a vehicle to dismantle obstacles for women, serving as a catalyst for growth by actively driving impact to accommodate women, including those in the informal labour market. It moves beyond rhetoric to institutionalise accountability by encouraging organisations to not only track how capital is raised, but also the type of capital deployed, jobs created, enterprise growth, geographic reach, and measurable inclusion outcomes.
IIF is a nonprofit organisation driving impact investing in Nigeria. It has spearheaded major initiatives, including the establishment of the Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing (NABII), which secured government backing for the $1 billion Nigerian Wholesale Impact Investment Fund (WIIF) to finance MSMEs.
