The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund AECF through its Investing in Women in Nigeria (IIW-Nigeria) programme supports women-led businesses in agricultural value chains in Kano State.
AECF, a development funding institution that supports businesses to innovate, create jobs, and leverage investments and markets to build resilience and sustainable incomes in rural and marginalised communities across Africa, has supported over 400 businesses across more than 40 value chains in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
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The Investing in Women in Nigeria (IIW Nigeria) programme is a five-year, gender-transformative and economic inclusion initiative implemented by AECF with funding support from Global Affairs Canada.
Speaking on the objectives of the programme, the Programme Manager of IIW Nigeria, Fouad Farouk Umar, said the initiative aims to economically empower women by investing in businesses and cooperatives operating within various agricultural value chains while also strengthening policy advocacy through capacity-building support.
He explained that the programme is currently being implemented in Kano State, noting that while beneficiaries may come from outside the state, the investments supported under the programme must be implemented within Kano.
According to him, the initiative seeks to transform the role of women in agricultural value chains in Kano by increasing incomes, improving climate resilience and strengthening livelihoods.
“The programme also provides capacity building and awareness creation around gender policy formulation to address barriers affecting women”
Umar further explained that the programme adopts the challenge fund model, which focuses on investing in innovative business ideas that demonstrate strong social impact, particularly those offering solutions within agricultural value chains.
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He added that the programme targets women involved in agricultural value chains and aims to directly benefit thousands of women-led small and medium-scale enterprises and cooperatives.
Also speaking, AECF Gender Specialist, Hauwa Umar, said IIW Nigeria provides technical assistance in areas such as gender equality, human rights advocacy, business and management training, climate-smart agriculture and Good Agricultural Practices.
She noted that beneficiaries also received customised advisory support through the AECF Advisory Studio and a pool of consultants.
Hauwa added that the programme fosters partnerships and coordination with stakeholders including Business Membership Organisations, Community-Based Organisations, Women’s Rights Organisations, financial institutions and relevant government ministries, departments and agencies.
She further highlighted funding opportunities under the programme, explaining that applicants submitted funding proposals justifying the financial support needed for their business ideas or projects.
According to her, funding can be used to introduce new products or services, scale up existing enterprises, replicate successful business models or expand into new markets.
Women-led or women-owned SMEs under the programme are eligible to receive funding ranging from 65,000 Canadian dollars to a maximum of 1.3 million Canadian dollars, with a 50 per cent matching fund requirement over a project period of up to four years.