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Sterling Bank has unveiled an ambitious plan to disburse N500bn in loans to female entrepreneurs as part of its women-focused initiative, OneWoman, aimed at strengthening financial inclusion and supporting women-led enterprises across Nigeria.
The programme, which is structured around three core pillars of capital, capacity, and community, is already showing measurable impact, particularly in expanding access to finance and business development support for women.
Speaking on the progress of the initiative, the Head of OneWoman, Ms Ezinne Nwokafor, disclosed that in 2025 alone, the bank disbursed N43.9bn in loans to 2,450 female entrepreneurs. In addition, about 6,000 women received business training, while the programme reached approximately 380,000 women across three major segments—career professionals, women in business, and fresh graduates.
She explained that the long-term vision of the initiative is to extend N500bn in loans to one million women by 2030, positioning the programme as a key driver of inclusive economic growth.
Despite notable progress in financial inclusion across the country, Nwokafor observed that a significant number of Nigerian women remain excluded from formal credit systems. She noted that only a small proportion of women currently have access to structured financing, limiting their ability to expand and sustain their businesses.
According to her, women account for a substantial share of micro, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria and play a critical role in economic development. However, they continue to face a financing gap estimated at $42bn annually, based on data from the International Finance Corporation.
Further highlighting the challenge, she stated that more than half of women-led businesses identify access to finance as a major constraint. Loan rejection rates, she added, are significantly higher for women than for men, largely due to structural barriers.
These barriers include limited asset ownership, restrictive social norms, and inadequate financial data visibility, all of which affect women’s creditworthiness in traditional lending systems.
Nwokafor emphasised that the OneWoman initiative is designed to address these challenges through an integrated support model that combines access to finance with mentorship, capacity building, and community engagement.
She made these remarks during the Funding Her Future Breakfast Dialogue held in Lagos, where stakeholders across various sectors gathered to explore practical solutions for improving financing pathways for women-led businesses.
Also speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Mr Abubakar Suleiman, underscored the importance of creating an enabling environment for female entrepreneurs.
He said women-led businesses require not just funding, but also access to the right support systems, networks, and a conducive ecosystem to grow sustainably and scale operations effectively.
Industry analysts note that initiatives such as OneWoman could play a pivotal role in narrowing Nigeria’s gender financing gap, while boosting productivity within the small and medium enterprise sector.
With its N500bn target, Sterling Bank is positioning itself at the forefront of efforts to drive inclusive banking and empower women as key contributors to national economic growth.
