NCGC Unveils GuaranteeHer, Targets N100bn Women Financing

Amarachi Ihesiulo

September 3, 2026
7 min read
NCGC

The National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC) has unveiled GuaranteeHer, a gender responsive credit guarantee framework aimed at unlocking more than N100 billion in financing for women owned and women led businesses over the next five years.

The initiative was unveiled on Thursday in Lagos as part of activities marking the first anniversary of the NCGC, with the company saying it is designed to address the persistent financing barriers confronting women entrepreneurs across Nigeria.

Speaking virtually at the NCGC Stakeholders Forum, themed “Credit Guarantees as a Catalyst for Inclusive Economic Growth,” the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said Nigeria does not lack entrepreneurs or business ideas, but many businesses remain shut out of formal credit because of limited access to affordable financing and conventional collateral requirements.

Oyedele said the challenge was particularly pronounced among women entrepreneurs who have built businesses through personal savings, family support, and informal financing but often struggle to secure the capital required to expand.

According to him, denying viable businesses access to finance does not only affect the entrepreneurs but also deprives the economy of jobs, production, and wider economic value.

“This is why access to finance is not simply a banking issue. It matters for growth,” he said.

The minister explained that credit guarantees provide a mechanism for the government to use limited public resources to reduce lending risks and attract private capital rather than attempting to finance businesses directly through government funds.

He said the GuaranteeHer initiative would target more than N100 billion in financing, potentially reaching over 10,000 women owned and women led businesses and creating or sustaining more than 150,000 jobs.

Oyedele, however, stressed that the success of the initiative should not be measured by the size of the guarantee announced, but by the amount of actual credit that reaches businesses, reduction in collateral requirements, affordability of loans and the ability of enterprises to grow.

He said the ultimate test would be whether businesses could move from micro to small, small to medium, and eventually large enterprises while creating jobs and improving livelihoods.

The minister said the initiative also fits into the Federal Government’s broader economic reform agenda, which he described as a transition from macroeconomic stabilisation to shared prosperity.

He maintained that government must increasingly focus on mobilising private capital to finance development, noting that credit guarantees, blended finance, credit enhancements, infrastructure funds, development finance and public private partnerships could help unlock investment beyond what government budgets alone can provide.

“We should begin to ask how much private capital can the government mobilise?” Oyedele said.

He urged participating financial institutions to ensure that the guarantees translate into actual lending, simpler processes, better terms and genuine opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Earlier, the Chairman of the NCGC Board and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, welcomed stakeholders to the forum and commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for establishing the company as part of efforts to improve access to credit and support inclusive economic growth.

In his remarks, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NCGC, Dr Bonaventure Okhaimo, said the company was established to bridge the risk gap preventing viable Nigerian businesses from accessing formal finance.

Okhaimo said NCGC had, within its first year of operation, developed partnerships with 19 financial institutions, including commercial banks, merchant banks, microfinance institutions and development lenders.

He disclosed that the company had issued guarantees valued at more than N21.5 billion, which had unlocked about N69.5 billion in financing for enterprises across the country.

According to him, the guarantees had reached businesses in more than 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with beneficiaries spread across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

He added that the intervention had enabled access to finance for more than 67,000 enterprises, including over 11,000 women owned businesses, while more than 600,000 direct and indirect jobs had been created or sustained.

Okhaimo said more than 66 per cent of NCGC’s interventions had been directed towards productive sectors, particularly agriculture, manufacturing and trade, while other priority areas included technology, renewable energy, compressed natural gas and transportation.

He said the company’s experience during its first year had shown that sector specific guarantee products were more effective than blanket guarantees, prompting NCGC to develop more targeted interventions.

On the next phase of its operations, Okhaimo said NCGC plans to unlock an additional N100 billion, deploy more than N60 billion in guaranteed loans, expand its network of participating financial institutions and support an additional 40,000 MSMEs and 5,000 local manufacturers, while sustaining an additional 20,000 jobs.

He said the company would also continue working towards expanding consumer credit access as part of efforts to deepen Nigeria’s formal credit ecosystem.

Women Remain Underserved

Representing the Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning, Doris Uzoka-Anite, Philip Obasi, Chief Planning Officer for Macroeconomic Economic Analysis at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, said GuaranteeHer was timely as Nigeria moves from stabilisation towards broader productive growth.

He said the Federal Government’s Renewed National Development Plan 2026 to 2030 places significant emphasis on private sector investment, increased private sector credit, job creation and financial inclusion.

Obasi said credit guarantee interventions must therefore be aligned with national priorities and measured through transparent indicators, including credit mobilised, beneficiaries reached, geographical coverage, jobs created and enterprises graduating to conventional finance.

He said the effectiveness of guarantees should be determined by their ability to unlock credit that would otherwise not have been available.

Representing the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Odio Oseni, said women entrepreneurs continue to face significant barriers despite their contribution to Nigeria’s economy.

She said women own approximately 40 percent of Nigeria’s MSMEs, while access to finance remains a major constraint for a larger proportion of women led businesses compared with their male counterparts.

According to her, only about 10 percent of loans from financial service providers reach women led businesses, highlighting the financing gap that GuaranteeHer is expected to address.

She described the initiative as more than a financial framework, saying it provides a pathway from enterprise to finance, expansion, and prosperity.

The minister called on financial institutions, development partners, investors and the private sector to support the initiative and expand access to women owned MSMEs, particularly businesses operated by young women and women in agriculture, manufacturing, technology and the informal economy.

She urged stakeholders to move away from an exclusive focus on collateral and instead consider what viable businesses can build and contribute to the economy.

Stakeholders Back Initiative

Goodwill messages at the forum came from stakeholders including the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr Tope Fasua; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Engr Faruk Yusuf Yabo; Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa, Oliver Alawuba; Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria, represented by the Director of Banking Supervision Department; Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute of Credit Administration, Prof Chris Onalo; Managing Director and CEO of Impact Credit Guarantee Company, Mr Anthony Asonye; and Director General of the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development, Dr Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi.

The forum also featured a presentation titled “The Missing Middle: Credit Guarantees as the Catalyst for Nigeria’s Next Financial Transformation” by the Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Economic and Financial Policy, Bamidele Adeleye.

A fireside session, “GuaranteeHer: Advancing Women’s Access to Finance Through Credit Guarantees,” featured the Founder and CEO of The Chair Centre Group, Ibukun Awosika, and Managing Partner and CEO of Mimonet Nigeria Limited, Odion Taiwo O-Oseni.

The event culminated in the ceremonial unveiling of GuaranteeHer by NCGC Executive Director, Strategy and Operations, Tinuola Aigwedo, who outlined the framework’s focus on expanding access to affordable credit for women entrepreneurs.

The NCGC said the initiative would form a major part of its second year of operations as it seeks to deepen financial inclusion and strengthen Nigeria’s credit ecosystem.

NCGC Unveils GuaranteeHer, Targets N100bn Women Financing

Amarachi Ihesiulo

Amarachi Ihesiulo

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