Creating Opportunities...for Women Client Case Study January 2008 Banking on Women in Business: Access Bank, Nigeria “Successfully reaching the women’s market in Nigeria is key to achieving our retail and small business goals.” — Aigboje Aig-Imoukhede, Managing Director, Access Bank A Growing Opportunity usually registered in men’s names), lack of credit Women entrepreneurs represent a large potential history and market information, and a resulting market for African banks. Financing them is good perception that lending to women could be riskier. for business—and good for long-term sustainable “Our sense was that the business case existed. But development. But most African banks will not cater it was clear we would need to do things a little to women, unaware of the specific challenges they differently in order to reach this market and be face as business owners. profitable,” says Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank’s deputy managing director. “IFC is helping us look beyond the typical chal- lenges faced by SMEs. We are working to explore nontraditional collateral options, new product development, and best practices from the Global Banking Alliance for Women. IFC is training our staff and—critically—they are training local businesswomen in order to build their financial skills and give them confidence to apply for funds.” Outcome Access Bank is changing the financial landscape for businesswomen in Nigeria and beyond. Since Tapping the Market with Help from IFC partnering with IFC in June 2006: Access Bank is different. It is Nigeria’s seventh • $16.56 million disbursed to 117 women entre- largest bank and recognizes that female-owned preneurs (Oct 06 to Oct 07). businesses make up a significant proportion of • 1,000 new accounts opened. bankable SMEs. To help tap this underserved market, IFC has provided Access Bank with a $30 million credit line for on-lending to women entre- preneurs, along with advisory services to support a successful roll-out of its women’s program. Working with IFC experts, Access Bank first exam- ined the women’s market in Nigeria and elsewhere, while analyzing the bank’s own assumptions, processes and lending requirements to see what barriers women clients faced. It discovered that highly capable women and good businesses were Thierry Tanoh, IFC Director and Nigerian Minister of being locked out of access to finance because of Women’s Affairs at the official launch of Access Bank’s traditional collateral requirements (such as land, Gender Program. • Over 350 women entrepreneurs trained in with high growth potential. Her clients include business management. Mobil, the Abuja Hilton, and others. Demand for • More women-friendly internal credit ratings. her products is high. • More flexible collateral options, such as the Muni has considerable potential to increase earn- pledging of jewelry and equipment. ings and create more jobs in the local economy. • Access Bank is now replicating its women’s pro- But something has always blocked her way. Male gram in other countries in Africa. bankers in Lagos simply did not want to finance the ambitious plans of a female-owned small Financing at Last: SME Focus business, and Muni could not speak the language Nigerian Muni Shonibare owns Interior Options, of finance well enough to convince them. To Ltd., a successful 150-employee furniture company increase production, she also needed a banking partner willing to help transform her business into a fully automated operation. Access Bank decided that Muni’s situation did not reflect smart economics by the banks. With fund- ing and training on the women’s market from IFC, Access Bank has now given Muni a $800,000, five- year local currency loan—financing, at last, for the Muni Shonibare can finally focus on long-term capital long-term capital expansion plans she has always expansion for her successful furniture company. had in mind. Access Bank Plc is a full service commercial bank operating IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is the through a network of over 80 branches and service outlets largest multilateral provider of financing for private enterprise located in all major commercial centers and cities across in developing countries. For more information on IFC’s Nigeria. Access Bank is a member of the Global Banking support for access to finance for women entrepreneurs, visit Alliance for Women. For more information, visit www. www.ifc.org/gender. accessbankplc.com. Notes World Economic Forum, World Bank, African Development Bank. 2007. The Africa Competitiveness Report 2007, Published by the World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland. International Finance Corporation, 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433 USA E-mail: gem-info@ifc.org, Web: www.ifc.org/gender