Green Economy: Stakeholders Seek More Access to Finance for Nigerian Female Entrepreneurs

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The European Union and investment experts in Nigeria have expressed worry that businesses capable of delivering real climate impact and boosting the country’s green economy lack access to finance.

The concern by stakeholders came just as the Women Leading Climate Action (WLCA) disclosed that Nigeria mobilises an estimated $2.5 billion annually in climate finance.

Speaking at a Forum in Abuja organised by WLCA, the  Ambassador of the European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, said the Green economy was not just about mobilising finances, but how to connect such capital to the right entrepreneurs, especially those already building solutions on the ground, which would remain underserved and under-recognised.

“It is about building investment pipelines that are diverse, financial systems that are accessible and ecosystems that connect entrepreneurs to opportunity,” he said.

He said Nigerian women were already leading in the area of the green economy, adding that Women currently represent over 70 percent of Nigeria’s informal economy.

According to the Ambassador, women constitute between 50 and 70 percent of small holder agricultural labor, and they are key actors in local markets and regional value chains.

“Yet despite the central role, they remain underrepresented where it matters most, in access to finance, in investment pipelines and in leadership and decision making spaces shaping the green economy,” he said.

While laying the tone for discussion by participants, the Convener of the dialogue session and Founder of WLCA, Mrs. Amanda Archibong-Doukouré said Nigerian women play a prominent role in MSMEs in Nigeria but lack the financial visibility that match their efforts.

For instance, Archibong-Doukouré said women dominate the last-mile distribution, agro-processing and clean energy adoption.

“We are talking about nearly 40 million MSMEs in Nigeria, the vast majority at micro level.

A $158 billion financing gap and almost half of micro-enterprises are owned by women. So the question is no longer whether women are participating. The real question is: who is designing the system and who is it designed for? “ she said.

In specific terms, she there was a $320 billion global credit gap representing unmet demand for investment in women-led businesses.

Archibong-Doukouré said the issue was not just lack of capital but misaligned capital, stating that, “Nigeria mobilises an estimated $2.5 billion annually in climate finance, (only about 8% of what is actually required).”

However, she said the concern was that most of this capital were not structured for early-stage businesses but designed for: larger ticket sizes and proven scales with strong collateral.

Archibong-Doukouré  spoke on the aim of the dialogue session, saying, “it about building women who can shape decisions, not just implement them, positioning women-led solutions to access capital, not just grants and generating the data and intelligence that makes these systems visible.”

She said without such alignment of objectives, the country would continue to fund climate ambition without funding climate reality.

She also said Nigeria was standing at a defining intersection, undergoing a major energy transition, while simultaneously opening up one of the largest single markets in the world through AfCFTA.

Former Vice President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Ms. Cecilia Akintomide, said Nigeria has demonstrated a strong investor appetite for green finance, citing multiple government issuances that were oversubscribed.

“The market is there, but women are not necessarily benefiting from it,” she said.

Akintomide identified barriers, including limited access to education, financing structures beyond the scale of micro, small, and medium enterprises, and concentration of funding in sectors where women are underrepresented, such as large infrastructure projects.

The event tagged “WLCA Green Economy Dialogue” deliberated on ways of unlocking finance and trade for women-led Green businesses, spotlighting women-led enterprises driving climate action and sustainable growth in Nigeria.