First City Monument Bank opened a new round of applications for its SheVentures proposition on Tuesday, offering women entrepreneurs zero-interest loans of up to N10 million, Yemisi Edun said.
The facility splits into a general category that provides loans ranging from N500,000 to N5 million and a sector-specific strand that can reach N5 million to N10 million. Funding is capped at up to 50 per cent of an applicant’s average monthly turnover, the bank said, and the loan carries a zero per cent interest rate with repayment structured over four months or six months. The bank said applications for the zero-interest loan are now open.
“Inclusive growth requires access to capital and the right conditions for businesses to deploy that capital effectively. Women-led enterprises are critical to economic activity, yet they face structural barriers. This intervention aims to help close that gap by providing financing that supports job creation, business expansion, and long-term sustainability for women entrepreneurs,” Yemisi Edun said.
SheVentures is designed to address financing gaps facing women-led businesses by combining targeted funding with broader support to strengthen their capacity and competitiveness. The facility aims to improve access to working capital and support business growth at a time when women-owned businesses account for a significant share of Nigeria’s small and medium-sized enterprises but continue to face high borrowing costs and limited access to credit.
Advocates welcomed the move but warned it will not solve every constraint overnight. “Access to affordable finance remains a major constraint for women entrepreneurs,” Nnenna Jacob-Ogogo said, summarising a persistent barrier the programme seeks to confront. She added: “By removing the cost barrier and offering quick, flexible funding, this zero-interest loan is designed to safeguard existing jobs, enable businesses to invest in growth initiatives, and foster resilience in challenging economic conditions.”
The numbers underline the programme’s scale: up to N10 million in zero-interest credit, with smaller loans from N500,000 and mid-range support reaching N5 million. But the structure introduces friction. A loan capped at half of average monthly turnover and repayable in four or six months could leave businesses with limited headroom to reinvest between repayment cycles, particularly for operations that rely on longer-term inventory or capital expenditures. The tension between a generous interest rate and a tight repayment schedule is central to whether the scheme can translate short-term relief into sustained expansion.
First City Monument Bank is pitching SheVentures as both a capital instrument and a capacity-building tool. Whether this round of zero-interest lending becomes a template for broader reform depends on uptake and outcomes: how many women apply, how many receive funding, and whether those businesses use the capital to hire or expand rather than simply bridge a temporary cash shortfall. The initiative arrives amid broader national conversations about credit and borrowing — from government loan requests to private sector deals — that underline how scarce and expensive capital remains in multiple corners of the economy (see Bola Tinubu seeks Senate approval for $516m Deutsche Bank loan for highway and other coverage such as Nigerian Civil Service gets bigger allowances, housing loan and exit benefits).
This is a test: if the zero per cent loan, capped at 50 per cent of turnover and repaid in months rather than years, allows recipients to stabilise payrolls and invest in growth, SheVentures could close a critical gap for women-led firms. If the repayment cadence proves too tight, the programme may become a short-term patch rather than a platform for long-term sustainability — a question First City Monument Bank will have to answer through results, not promises.
