By Vivian Imoh-Ita
Across African banking, the conversation is shifting from “inclusion as intent” to “inclusion as performance.” Margin pressure, recapitalisation, digitisation, and tighter risk expectations are forcing a critical question: where will sustainable, low-volatility growth come from in the next cycle?
One answer is hiding in plain sight—women-led enterprises: underfunded, underserved, and consistently productive.
In Nigeria’s informal economy, where cash flow is real but documentation is often uneven, the institutions that will win are those able to price risk with better signals, distribute at scale, and convert trust into long-term financial relationships. Too often, women’s economic participation is framed as a social commitment rather than a commercial imperative.
That framing is costly. When financial institutions fail to design capital, products, and distribution around the realities of women in business, they do not just exclude customers—they misprice opportunity and leave growth untapped.
Women in Nigeria are not waiting to be “empowered” before they build. They are already trading, employing, and sustaining households at scale. The real constraint is not capability; it is the mismatch between how finance is structured and how women-owned businesses actually operate—particularly in terms of cash-flow patterns, collateral realities, and the need for speed, trust, and advisory alongside capital.
Three key frictions persist. First is the issue of collateral versus cash flow: many viable women-run businesses are cash-generative but asset-light, making traditional collateral-heavy lending models exclusionary. Second is the information gap: when transactions occur outside formal financial systems, banks see “thin files.” However, thin files do not equate to high risk—they represent a data challenge that can be addressed with better design and alternative credit signals. Third is the urgency of access: entrepreneurs often require small, fast working-capital decisions, not slow processes built for corporate cycles. Speed, when paired with the right controls, is itself a risk management tool.
Nigeria is home to an estimated 23 million women entrepreneurs in the micro-business segment—one of the highest rates globally. Women account for 41 per cent of SME ownership, and SMEs contribute nearly half of the country’s GDP. Yet access to formal finance remains disproportionately low. Women receive only about 10 per cent of loans from financial institutions, while an estimated 98 per cent lack access to formal credit.
Data drawn from EFInA, Global Findex, and SMEDAN highlights the structural gap: 41 per cent of Nigerian women are financially excluded, compared to 33 per cent of men. While 39 per cent of women borrow from multiple sources, only four per cent access bank loans.
Across Africa, the financing gap for women-led businesses is estimated at $42 billion. This is not a “nice-to-have” agenda. According to the McKinsey Global Institute’s Power of Parity, advancing women’s equality could add up to $12 trillion to global GDP. The International Monetary Fund has also estimated that equal participation by women could boost GDP by as much as 40 per cent in some countries. For Nigeria, analysis cited by the Council on Foreign Relations suggests that closing the gender gap in economic participation could increase GDP by 23 per cent.
For banks, the implication is clear: women-led enterprises are not a niche—they represent a mass-market growth opportunity. Unlocking this potential requires a shift from “product availability” to “product usability,” including cash-flow-based lending, simplified onboarding, digital and agent-led distribution, and trust-by-design through transparent pricing, consumer protection, and robust data privacy.
There is also a compelling economic multiplier. Women are estimated to reinvest up to 90 per cent of their income into their families and communities, driving improvements in education, healthcare, and local employment. For financial institutions, this translates into stronger deposit growth, increased transaction volumes, improved credit performance, and long-term customer value.
This reality is evident across Nigeria’s markets. From Balogun Market in Lagos to Onitsha Market in Anambra State, women entrepreneurs serve as economic anchors—employing others, supporting families, and sustaining local economies. Each represents a multiplier effect, often sparked by access to capital, skills, or opportunity.
At Union Bank, women’s financial inclusion is treated as a core product strategy, not corporate social responsibility. The commercial logic is straightforward: when women build financial capability, they do more than open accounts—they save, transact, borrow responsibly, expand their businesses, and bring others into the financial system.
Distribution is also critical. Union Bank’s UnionDirect agency banking network operates more than 58,000 agents across rural and underserved communities, extending access to essential financial services where traditional branches cannot reach. The bank has also disbursed over ₦50 billion in microloans to smallholder farmers, market women, and informal entrepreneurs, reinforcing that inclusion must be practical, frequent, and local.
In a market where many working women operate within the informal sector, integrating them into the formal financial system through savings, digital banking, micro-lending, and insurance represents a significant growth frontier. Evidence across emerging markets also shows that women often have lower default rates, reflecting disciplined cash management and strong repayment cultures—particularly when financial products are tailored to real operating conditions.
This understanding informed the creation of alpher, Union Bank’s women-focused banking proposition launched in 2020 and aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality. Designed for entrepreneurs, professionals, and households alike, alpher combines tailored financial products with capacity-building, mentorship, and business support.
Beyond access to capital, it offers savings and investment solutions, discounted loans, healthcare plans, and opportunities for personal and professional development. Customers are segmented into individuals, women-led businesses, and organisations that support women across their value chains, ensuring relevance rather than generic offerings.
Practically, this has meant reducing collateral barriers and investing in skills such as bookkeeping, pricing, digital commerce, and financial management—ensuring that access to funding translates into resilience and sustainable growth.
One standout initiative is the alpher Fair, a marketplace platform that connects women entrepreneurs directly to customers, employees, and partner networks. It provides immediate market access, boosts visibility, and underscores a key insight: scaling women-owned businesses often depends as much on access to markets, information, and trust as it does on access to credit.
Partnerships have also been central to scaling impact. In May 2025, Union Bank, through alpher, partnered with the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce to support 125 entrepreneurs under its Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Development Centre programme. Participants received training, grants, and access to funding opportunities, demonstrating that capacity-building is not ancillary—it is pipeline development for stronger businesses and better credit outcomes.
Ultimately, alpher is integrated within Union Bank’s broader retail and SME ecosystem, enabling customers to access funding, advisory services, digital tools, and growth opportunities in a cohesive framework.
The next phase of banking growth in Nigeria will favour institutions that translate insight into execution—designing products that reflect customer realities, deploying distribution channels that meet customers where they are, and adopting risk models that recognise performance beyond traditional collateral.
Backing women-led enterprises is not a campaign; it is a competitive advantage.
The real question is whether financial institutions will build the necessary infrastructure—capital, capability, data, digital trust, and market access—fast enough to capture the growth already in plain sight.
If inclusive growth is the goal, then inclusive balance sheets must follow. That means building underwriting, data, and distribution models that make inclusion not just possible, but commercially sustainable.
Vivian Imoh-Ita is Head, Retail & SME Business at Union Bank of Nigeria, focused on driving inclusion, growth, and long-term customer value.
