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5 Business Grants Available For Nigerian Women
These are business funding available for Nigerian women if you are looking to expand your company or launch an innovative new startup,
Nigerian women are quite resourceful, a large number of them are entrepreneurs who have not only created employment for themselves but have also successfully created job opportunities for others. While women do this, getting access to funding remains one of the biggest obstacles for women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
Business grants present a unique opportunity for female business owners to secure the capital they need to start, sustain, and scale their ventures. In this article, we’ll highlight 5 different business grants available for Nigerian women entrepreneurs across diverse industries and at different business stages.
If you’re a Woman looking to expand your existing company or launch an innovative new startup, these are business funding available for Nigerian women that can provide the financial support and runway you need to bring your vision to life. Without further ado, Let’s get into it.
1. Flourish Africa’s N1 Billion Grant For Female Entrepreneurs
When we talk about grants for Nigerian women, Flourish Africa should be topping the chart. Flourish Africa is the women’s empowerment movement founded by Apostle Folorunso Alakija to catalyze female empowerment and development. Successful applicants of Flourish Africa’s grant can get between N3.7m funding up to N11.2 million to boost their businesses. Women-led Associations can also receive as much as N37.5m in funding. The only downside to this special offer is its exclusivity to women-led businesses in Abuja, Lagos or Port Harcourt.
The program’s training curriculum has been tailored to educate and prepare female entrepreneurs for their business journey, giving them wings to fly. It also gives female entrepreneurs an enabling platform for practical skill development, mentoring, and access to the marketplace.
The Vision of Flourish Africa is ” to create a world where empowered women, empower other women”.
Criteria for eligibility
If you want to apply for the Flourish Africa grant, you need to:
- Be between 18 and 50 years old.
- Identify as female. If your business is co-owned with a man, you must have at least 51% ownership with proof.
- Have access to the internet and devices for a 4-month virtual training commitment.
- Have a startup business based in Lagos, Abuja, or Port Harcourt.
2. Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme
The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme is open to new start-ups and existing young businesses operating in any sector.
Criteria for eligibility
If you want to apply for the TEF Entrepreneurship program grant, you need to:
- Be an African citizen/resident
- Be an African startup entrepreneur who has a business or business idea based in Africa
- Be 18+ years old
- Applicants must already have existing innovative businesses in the gestation stage of 0 to 3 years or have a viable business idea. The business or business idea must also be profitable
- Have been in operation for at least one year
3. Orange Corners Nigeria Incubation Programme
The Orange Corners Nigeria grant supports young entrepreneurs 18-35 years old with innovative ideas up to 2 years old. They provide funding, training, mentoring, and resources to help you start and grow a business that tackles local challenges and meets the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
It is a 6-month incubation programme however, the successful participants will receive funding of up to 40,000 Euros (N34m naira equivalent) after the programme.
Criteria for eligibility
If you want to apply for the Orange Corners grant, you need to:
- Be an aspiring entrepreneur from Nigeria
- Be between 18 and 35 years old
- You must have a validated innovative business concept, not more than 2 years old
- The product or service should respond to a local challenge in Nigeria and relate to the Sustainable Development Goals
- Your business concept must be innovative, feasible, and have a social impact and clarity of market
4. Herconomy Enterprise Challenge
The Herconomy Enterprise Challenge is an annual event for women entrepreneurs in Nigeria who own small or medium enterprises. Herconomy is an accessible grant for Nigerian Women. It is more than just a grant – it is a funding competition and capacity-building opportunity.
The Challenge brings together women business owners across Nigeria to compete for grant funding to grow their enterprises. As an annual event proudly presented by Herconomy, it embodies the company’s broader goal of equipping and supporting women entrepreneurs.
Participants not only have the chance to win capital, but gain exposure and capacity building throughout the challenge.
Criteria for eligibility
If you want to apply for the Herconomy Enterprise grant, you need to:
- Be a woman or have a woman as a co-founder or a key decision-maker in your business
- Have a registered business or a business association in Nigeria
- Have been in operation for at least one year
- Have a minimum annual turnover of N5 million
- Operate in any sector of the economy that leverages technology to solve problems and create value
5. FATE Foundation Business Resilience Programme For African Women Entrepreneurs
This is another grant available for Nigerian Women. FATE Foundation in partnership with Google.org on the 19th of January launched its $1 million funded 2023 Business Resilience Programme (BRP) for female entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
The perk of this program is that 200 female entrepreneurs will be supported with grants upon successful participation. Other benefits also include free business registrations, free access to the FATE business plan developer tool, and a certificate of completion.
Female Entrepreneurs nationwide can access this opportunity as it will be executed both virtually and in four different states (Ogun, Edo, Kwara, Abia, and Lagos).
Criteria for eligibility
If you want to apply for the grant, you need to:
- Be a female entrepreneur in Nigeria
- Be a nano (less than 3 employees) and micro (4 to 9 employees) business owner
- Have a minimum of a secondary school diploma
- Be proficient in English
- Have internet access and a smartphone
- Special consideration will be given to breadwinners, widows, and single parents
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