Firm Targets Closing Capital Access Energy Costs Constrain Gaps In Women-led Businesses

Women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria’s manufacturing, agribusiness and nutrition sectors face persistent barriers to capital, energy, technical skills and market access, according to organisers of an upcoming industry gathering in Lagos.

Alitheia Capital, an impact investment and private equity firm, said the constraints are limiting growth and formalisation among women entrepreneurs operating in three sectors central to economic diversification: agribusiness and value-chain operations, food processing and nutrition, and light manufacturing and packaging.

Managing partner at Alitheia Capital, Tokunboh Ishmael, said the main constraint facing women-led businesses is not ambition but access to finance and markets. “We are advancing women-led businesses with revenues, customers, and growth intent. The constraint is not ambition — it is access,” Ishmael said.

More than 300 women-led businesses, screened against revenue threshold, formalisation status and growth potential, are expected to attend the two-day programme in Lagos from 10 to 11 September.

The event, now in its third edition, will bring together donors, philanthropic foundations, development finance institutions, investors and technical specialists.

The programme includes sessions on the policy, regulatory and infrastructure environment affecting small and growing businesses; financing options; and green manufacturing as a factor in cost reduction and operational efficiency.

Masterclasses will cover investment readiness, financial statements, unit economics, governance, capital structuring, and energy and cost efficiency.

The organisers also said a speed consultancy session will pair founders with investors, lenders and advisers through structured one-to-one conversations while an Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption bootcamp delivered by the Google Hustle Academy will provide founders with digital tools applied directly to their businesses, on day two.

Organisers say participants will receive outcomes including finance-readiness assessments, conversations with capital providers, new technical skills, or market connections.

At the close of the programme, a cohort of businesses will be onboarded onto the Nzinga platform, through which Alitheia Capital will monitor participant metrics over twelve months.

The event is supported by institutional partners including FCMB SheVentures, Airtel, StarSight, RenCom, LATC, Bank of Industry, FCDO Manufacturing Africa, Google Hustle Academy, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), SMEDAN, and the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment (CCTI). Media partners include African Private Equity News, BusinessDay and BusinessDay TV, ImpactAlpha, News Central, and Tech Cabal.

Co-founder of WIMBIZ and CEO & founder of DO.II Designs Ltd, Ifeyinwa Ighodalo,will deliver a keynote address on building and scaling women-led enterprises in Nigeria.