Obtaining a business loan has historically been a difficult task for many Nigerian women, but last year, Moniepoint made this problem a little less prevalent.
- Obtaining business loans has been challenging for Nigerian women due to collateral and documentation requirements by banks.
- Many women rely on personal savings or loans from family and friends to sustain their businesses.
- Moniepoint, a fintech company, lent over $700 million to MSMEs last year, with about 36% of recipients being women and most receiving their first official business loan.
- Moniepoint uses transaction data and cash flow to assess loan viability, finding that female-owned businesses are 2.5 times less likely to default than male-owned ones.
Banks sometimes require collateral, extensive documentation, and credit histories, which many small company entrepreneurs do not have.
As a result, many women have used personal savings or loans from family and friends to keep their enterprises running.
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This data was highlighted by a report from one of Africa’s most prominent fintechs, Moniepoint, which noted that effort from its part is helping flip the script.
Last year, Moniepoint lent over $700 million to micro, small, and medium-sized companies (MSMEs).
While the figure is impressive in and of itself, what makes the disbursement particularly interesting are the recipients of the loans and the sector it impacted.
For example, three out of every four enterprises that obtained a loan were seeking formal business financing for the first time.
Additionally, around 36% of the entrepreneurs who borrowed from Moniepoint to aid their businesses were women.
Of these women, 62% stated that it was their first official business loan, opening opportunities previously denied by traditional financial institutions.
Instead of requiring property as security or excessive documentation, Moniepoint examines how a firm actually operates.
It can assess a company’sh flow
The fintech discovered that female-owned firms were 2.5 times less likely to default on loans than male-owned businesses.
In other words, women have proven to be among the company’s most dependable borrowers.
That discovery prompted Moniepoint to significantly increase loans to female businesses, and with this information, it boosted loans to women-owned enterprises by more than 300% in 2025.
Given that women control nearly one-third of all MSMEs in Nigeria, the rise marks a significant step toward closing the country’s financial divide.
Globally, women-owned small companies confront a $1.9 trillion funding deficit. According to EFInA, access to financial services in Nigeria remains unequal, with 45% of women accessing formal financial services against 56% of males.
Moniepoint’s strategy demonstrates that financial inclusion does not necessarily necessitate reducing lending standards; it may just necessitate changing how firms are evaluated.
