BOI, MTN launch N1bn fund for girls entrepreneurs

The Bank of Industry and the MTN Foundation have unveiled a N1bn matching fund to empower feminine entrepreneurs, with a deal with offering gear financing to assist 200 girls scale their companies.

The fund was launched on the official unveiling of the BOI–MTN Foundation Y’ellopreneur 3.0 Matching Fund held in Lagos on Tuesday. Chairman of MTN Foundation, Dr Mosun Belo-Olusoga, mentioned the initiative was designed to maneuver past conventional empowerment to drive actual financial influence.

She remarked, “It’s typically mentioned that the nice barometer of Nigeria’s financial well being isn’t discovered on the inventory change tickers. Extra typically, it resides within the grit and sheer willpower of a Nigerian lady turning enterprise into an enormous enterprise.”

Belo-Olusoga added that the inspiration now sees girls’s empowerment as a crucial driver of nationwide improvement.

“On the MTN Foundation, we’ve moved far past the period of ladies’s empowerment as social items or checkboxes on a CSR report. We see it as a cornerstone for nation-building as a result of when a lady thrives, the secular economic system is now not a theoretical idea.

 It turns into a actuality that feeds households, educates kids, and stabilises communities,” she mentioned.

Asserting the brand new fund, she acknowledged, “It’s subsequently my distinct honour to announce a partnership with the Bank of Industry… it is a N1bn intervention fund.

This fund is particularly designed to supply gear financing for 200 deserving girls, enabling them to transition from small-scale operations to industrial-strength companies.”

She referred to as for wider consciousness of the programme throughout the nation, saying, “We want this name for purposes to journey past the excessive rises of our cities… We would like each Nigerian lady who has an ambition to know that her dream is legitimate.”

Managing Director of BOI, Dr Olasupo Olusi, represented by the Government Director for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Oluwatoyin Edu, mentioned the fund would deepen present collaboration between each establishments and develop help for women-led enterprises.

“The partnership between the Bank of Industry and the MTN Nigeria Foundation displays a shared dedication to advancing entrepreneurship, empowering girls, and creating alternatives for enterprise development throughout Nigeria,” he mentioned.

The BOI MD recalled that the financial institution had partnered with the MTN Foundation through the years to pursue programmes, together with the Youth Entrepreneurship Growth Programme in 2018, a N100m managed fund designed to help members of the MTN Foundation Scholarship Alumni group with entrepreneurial ambitions.

It was adopted by the MTN Foundation Y’ellopreneur Programme in 2022, a N300m initiative centered on supporting women-owned companies. The 2026 programme sought a significant enhance in funding.

Olusi added, “At this time, we’re happy to deepen this collaboration with the launch of the N1bn Y’ellopreneur 3.0 Matching Fund, collectively funded by each establishments on a 50:50 foundation.”

The BOI MD defined that the programme would mix coaching, financing, and advisory help to make sure sustainability. “Beneath this initiative, 1,000 girls entrepreneurs will take part in a structured capacity-building programme… whereas 200 women-led MSMEs will obtain entry to inexpensive loans of as much as N5m to develop their companies,” he mentioned.

He famous that the programme would goal high-impact sectors, together with agro-processing, mild manufacturing, style, power, waste administration, and digital providers.

“By supporting women-led enterprises in productive sectors, this programme will assist generate employment, strengthen native manufacturing, stimulate innovation, and develop the capability of Nigerian companies to compete each domestically and globally,” Olusi added.

Government Director, MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, hailed the initiative as constructing on years of funding in girls entrepreneurs. She acknowledged that it addresses each funding and abilities gaps.

“We realised that there was an issue with entry to capital, however there was additionally an issue with capability… that’s the reason the imaginative and prescient of the Y’ellopreneur was introduced forth to mix capability constructing with entry to capital for girls,” she mentioned.

Sanya added that the inspiration had already educated 1000’s of ladies and disbursed loans to help enterprise development. On the importance of the brand new fund, she mentioned, “At this time, we’re launching a N1bn matching fund… we imagine that even small quantities may also help girls scale. Some girls want simply N2m to remodel their operations.”

Sanya added that the partnership with BOI would speed up influence, noting that the inspiration goals to construct capability for 30,000 girls and fund 10,000 female-led companies over the following 5 years.

“We’re creating an ecosystem that empowers girls, strengthens enterprises, and contributes meaningfully to Nigeria’s financial transformation,” she mentioned.