The United Kingdom Government and FSD Africa have committed $335,000 to establish an investment network aimed at mobilising $2.7 million in local capital for women-led businesses in Nigeria over the next three years.
The initiative, known as the RiTA Investment Network, is designed to address persistent financing barriers facing women entrepreneurs and improve their access to funding for business expansion, job creation and economic growth.
The funding, provided through FSD Africa with support from the UK Government through the British High Commission in Nigeria, will support the establishment of the network, an initiative of Rising Tide Africa, a pan-African network of women angel investors.
The platform will target 15 small and growing women-owned businesses, connecting them with Nigerian investors, including high-net-worth individuals, angel investors and family offices.
A key feature of the initiative is its focus on naira-denominated financing, which is expected to reduce foreign exchange risks for businesses that generate revenue in the local currency.
According to figures cited by the initiative’s promoters, Nigeria’s small businesses face a financing gap estimated at ₦13 trillion, with 19 out of every 20 businesses unable to access formal finance.
Women entrepreneurs face additional challenges, despite owning approximately 40 per cent of the country’s small businesses. They are reportedly rejected for credit more than three times as often as their male counterparts.
The initiative’s promoters attributed the disparity partly to conventional lending requirements that demand physical assets, particularly land, as collateral, leaving many viable women-led businesses unable to secure loans.
Speaking on the partnership, the Head of Green Growth and Private Sector Development at the British High Commission, Paul Healey, said the intervention would help remove barriers preventing promising businesses from obtaining the capital required to grow.
“Women entrepreneurs are building successful businesses across Nigeria, but many still face barriers to accessing the investment they need to grow. This partnership between the UK Government, FSD Africa and Rising Tide Africa is changing that,” he said.
Healey added that the initiative would strengthen connections between entrepreneurs and investors, creating opportunities for business expansion, employment generation and broader economic development.
Similarly, FSD Africa’s Director for Early-Stage Finance, Juliet Munro, said Nigeria had substantial domestic capital that could support women-led businesses but lacked adequate structures to channel investments towards smaller enterprises.
“Nigeria does not lack capital. Women angel investors in Rising Tide Africa have shown for years that they will back women-led businesses with their own money. The RiTA Investment Network gives that capital the structure and instrument to grow, in naira, and at scale,” she said.
The network will primarily provide revenue-based financing, an arrangement under which repayments fluctuate according to a business’s sales performance.
The model is intended to support viable businesses that lack conventional collateral and prefer not to relinquish ownership through equity financing.
To strengthen investor confidence, the platform will operate with professional credit assessment procedures, an investment committee, an advisory board, and monitoring and reporting systems designed to promote transparency and accountability.
A general partner and spokesperson for the RiTA Investment Network, Yemi Keri, said the initiative would give women-led businesses access to lenders who understand their operating models and financing needs.
“Women-led businesses in Nigeria are growing, and they need lenders who understand how they work. We founded RiTA to give investors a disciplined way to lend to them, one business at a time. FSD Africa’s support lets us build the structure, the discipline and the data to do this at scale,” she said.
FSD Africa’s funding will cover the network’s establishment costs during its first three years, including staffing, legal structures, governance arrangements and operational systems.
Rising Tide Africa has already secured approximately $1.5 million in soft commitments from its network, while the new platform aims to mobilise about $2.7 million over the three-year period.
The network completed its first transaction in September 2026 through a syndicated corporate note to Ororo Waste Management Limited, while two additional businesses are undergoing structuring and due diligence.
Beyond the initial fundraising target, the initiative plans to lay the foundation for a proposed $10 million naira-denominated growth debt fund dedicated to women-led businesses, with the potential participation of institutional investors.
It also intends to develop resources for emerging fund managers, including legal templates for investments under the Investments and Securities Act 2025, guidance on naira-denominated revenue-based financing and credit performance data on women-led enterprises.
The partners said these resources would help demonstrate the viability of financing women-owned businesses at scale while reducing barriers confronting other local investment managers.
The initiative forms part of FSD Africa’s broader early-stage finance strategy, which seeks to mobilise African capital for small and growing businesses through partnerships with angel investors, private wealth holders, local fund managers, corporations and institutional investors.
