By Ayo Kehinde
Women-run businesses in Nigeria are emerging as some of the country’s most reliable borrowers, recording significantly lower loan default rates than their male counterparts despite longstanding barriers to accessing formal credit.
This is the finding by Moniepoint in its 2025 Impact Report.
The fintech disclosed that women-owned businesses in its loan portfolio had default rates 2.5 times lower than those of male-owned businesses, strengthening the case for expanding access to finance for female entrepreneurs.
The report also showed that lending to women-owned businesses grew by more than 300 percent during the year, while 62 percent of surveyed female entrepreneurs said the facility represented the first formal business loan they had ever accessed.
According to the report, women accounted for 36 percent of loans disbursed through Moniepoint’s platform, exceeding the industry benchmark of 15 percent to 25 percent.
Despite accounting for just over a third of total loans, women consistently outperformed men in repayment, with the report describing the trend as strong evidence that lending to women-owned businesses is commercially sound.
“We found that the default rate for women was 2.5 times lower than for men. This is definitive evidence that lending to women-owned businesses is sound financial practice”, Moniepoint said.
The fintech attributed the improved access to finance partly to alternative credit assessment models, which it said are helping extend formal lending to entrepreneurs who have traditionally been excluded from the banking system, particularly women operating within Nigeria’s informal economy.
The report noted that women-owned businesses account for about one-third of Nigeria’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) but continue to face significant financing constraints.
Citing data from Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), Moniepoint said only 45 percent of Nigerian women have access to formal financial services compared with 56 percent of men, underscoring the persistent gender gap in financial inclusion.
The findings suggest that although more women are entering the formal credit market, access to finance remains a major obstacle for female entrepreneurs seeking to expand their businesses.
Moniepoint’s findings align with similar research across Nigeria’s lending industry.
Credit Direct’s 2025 Nigeria Credit Landscape Report, which analysed about 300,000 active borrowers, found that women received just 26 percent of total loans disbursed but recorded a delinquency rate of 7.8 percent, compared with 10.9 percent for male borrowers.
The report also showed that women accessed slightly larger average loan sizes than men, yet continued to demonstrate stronger repayment performance, challenging long-held assumptions about credit risk.
The trend is also consistent with findings by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which has repeatedly highlighted the financing gap facing women-owned MSMEs despite evidence that they often outperform in loan repayments.
The report comes as development finance institutions intensify efforts to improve access to credit for female entrepreneurs. Earlier this year, the African Development Bank approved a $61 million financing package for the Development Bank of Nigeria to expand affordable financing for women-owned and women-led MSMEs, supporting broader efforts to promote inclusive private sector growth in the country
