Out-of-date, gender-biased lending practices often mean female entrepreneurs are more likely to get higher interest rates, smaller loan amounts and increased penalties for mistakes.
Nigeria has a growing – working population that are youth centred, the unemployment and underemployment figures according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), increasing year on year, also shows that women are significantly impacted more than men. The gender implications for women in security, poverty, health, leadership and political representation, is on the rise. While a solution is to create an environment that nurtures everyone inclusively, the economic interventions are still limiting and its impact affects women’s economic power.
Female entrepreneurs in Nigeria contribute to 50% of the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). McKinsey Global Institute implies that this can go up to 19% in 2025 (up to 90 billion Dollars) if the systems are inclusive and equitable towards women in micro, medium small enterprises (MSMEs). But how can this happen when only 10% of commercial loans go towards women’s businesses and Nigerian women own 40% of businesses?