AfDB approves $50 million to FCMB for local, women-owned businesses in Nigeria

The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Board of Directors has authorized a $50 million loan to Nigeria’s First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to be channeled to local companies and women-owned businesses in the agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, and renewable energy sectors.

The information was revealed in a public statement made by the African Development Bank on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, headlined ‘African Development Bank bolsters women-empowered companies with $50 million loans to FCMB bank.’

According to the statement, 30% of the funding are allocated for disadvantaged women-owned companies in order to offset the consequences of the tough Covid-19 climate.

The Bank will also offer a $200,000 technical assistance grant through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) project, which is backed by the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative. The funding is anticipated to supplement the loan by allowing First City Monument Bank to provide non-financial services, such as training, as well as improve its monitoring and reporting capabilities.

The AfDB Director of Finance Sector Development, Stefan Nalletamby said,

“The African Development Bank is pleased to support FCMB’s strategy to
become a dominant player in addressing the funding needs of
women-empowered and local enterprises. This project will extend valuable
resources to critical but underserved segments during the ongoing
Covid-19 pandemic, with its adverse macroeconomic impacts.”

Small and medium-sized businesses account for up to 80% of employment in most African countries, and women-owned businesses typically face significant financing gaps, according to the statement, which also notes that the Nigerian economy has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and falling crude oil prices have had a ripple effect on the overall economy.

FCMB is a Nigerian commercial bank with a customer base of about 5 million people. As of the end of 2020, it had total assets of about $5 billion.

The initiative is in line with the goals of AFAWA, which strives to enhance gender equality through increasing women’s access to capital. The initiative also contributes to the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy and is in line with three of the bank’s High-5 strategic priorities: Industrialize Africa, Feed Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life for Africans. It also corresponds to the Nigeria Country Strategy Paper for the years 2020-2024.

The African Development Bank is an implementing partner of the World Bank Group’s Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, ground-breaking cooperation aimed at unlocking finance for women-led companies in developing nations.