USD 335,000 investment will help Rising Tide Africa bring women entrepreneurs and investors together, with the aim of attracting USD 2.7 million over the next three years.
Lagos, Nigeria, 28 October 2026. FSD Africa, with funding from the UK Government through the British High Commission in Nigeria, has committed US$335,000 (approximately £247,000) to establish the RiTA Investment Network, a new platform designed to increase investment in women-led businesses in Nigeria.
Established by Rising Tide Africa, a women-led, pan-African network of angel investors, the platform aims to mobilise US$2.7 million (approximately ₦3.75 billion) from Nigerian investors, including high-net-worth individuals, angel investors and family offices. The investment will target 15 small and growing women-led businesses across Nigeria, helping them access the capital they need to expand.
Nigeria’s small and growing businesses are an important part of the economy, but many struggle to access the finance they need to grow. The IFC estimates that Nigeria’s small businesses face a financing gap of around ₦13 trillion, with 19 in 20 unable to access formal finance. The challenge is particularly acute for women entrepreneurs, who own around 40% of Nigeria’s small businesses but are rejected for credit at more than three times the rate of men.
For many women, the barrier is not their ability to build successful businesses or repay loans, but a lack of assets, such as land, that banks traditionally require as security.
Speaking while announcing the investment, Head of Green Growth and Private Sector Development at the British High Commission, Paul Healey noted that this initiative forms part of the UK Government’s broader support to expand access to finance for promising small and growing businesses.
He said: “Women entrepreneurs are building successful businesses across Nigeria, but many still face barriers to accessing the investment they need to grow. This partnership between the UK Government, FSD Africa and Rising Tide Africa is changing that.
“Together, we are building stronger connections between women-led businesses and investors, creating opportunities for more businesses to start, grow, and thrive.
“The UK is proud to be part of this partnership, working together with talented entrepreneurs to create jobs and contribute to Nigeria’s economy. By building these connections now, we can open the door to even more investment in women-led businesses in the years ahead.”
Juliet Munro, Director for Early-Stage Finance at FSD Africa hailed the potential of the new investment at mobilising domestic capital and deploying it in priority areas to provide growth capital and to create employment,
“Nigeria does not lack capital. Women angel investors in Rising Tide Africa have shown for years that they will back women-led businesses with their own money. The RiTA Investment Network gives that capital the structure and instrument to grow, in Naira, and at scale.” noted Juliet.
Currency matters. Much of the growth capital available to African businesses is in US dollars. For businesses earning in Naira, dollar debt becomes more expensive every time the currency weakens. Nigeria has substantial private wealth that could finance these businesses in their own currency, but few channels exist to connect that wealth to smaller companies.
The RiTA Investment Network is designed to build that channel. Rising Tide Africa’s members have invested together for years and have backed 39 companies to date. The Network will turn that experience into a formal investment platform, with professional credit assessment, an investment committee, an advisory board, and the monitoring and reporting systems that investors need to commit capital with confidence. Investors choose the businesses they back, one transaction at a time. Finance will mainly take the form of revenue-based finance, where repayments rise and fall with business’s sales. This suits profitable businesses that lack collateral and do not want to give up ownership to equity investors.
Yemi Keri, GP, RiTA Investment Network, RiTA Investment Network Spokesperson welcomed the catalytic investment as a major boost in the Network’s ambition to raise USD 10 million in local currency to support women enterprises in the country.
“Women led businesses in Nigeria are growing, and they need lenders who understand how they work. We founded RiTA to give investors a disciplined way to lend to them, one business at a time. FSD Africa’s support lets us build the structure, the discipline and the data to do this at scale,” she said.
FSD Africa’s funding meets the cost of building this institution in its first three years, before it can sustain itself from fees. It pays for the team, legal structure, governance and systems that make local capital ready to invest. Rising Tide Africa has already secured around US$1.5 million in soft commitments from its network. For every dollar of FSD Africa funding, the Network aims to mobilise around eight dollars of Nigerian private capital. The partnership builds on a year of advisory work between FSD Africa and Rising Tide Africa, and forms part of FSD Africa’s wider partnership with the British High Commission to deepen early-stage finance in Nigeria.
The Network completed its first transaction in September 2026, a syndicated corporate note to Ororo Waste Management Limited. Two further businesses are now in structuring and due diligence. The long-term goal is larger. The track record built through the Network is intended to support Rising Tide Africa’s plan to launch a US$10 million, Naira denominated growth debt fund for businesses led by women, and to bring institutional investors into it. Along the way, Rising Tide Africa will produce resources that other first-time fund managers in Nigeria can use. These include a legal template for investing under the Investments and Securities Act 2025, a playbook for revenue-based finance in Naira, and credit performance data on businesses led by women. Together they aim to show that lending to these businesses is investable at scale, and to lower the cost for the next local manager to follow.
The RiTA Investment Network is part of FSD Africa’s Early-Stage Finance strategy to mobilise diverse pools of African capital for small and growing businesses. Alongside angel networks and private wealth, FSD Africa is working with corporates, local fund managers and institutional investors to build the channels that connect domestic capital to the businesses that need it.
About RiTA Investment Network
The RiTA Investment Network is an initiative of Rising Tide Africa that provides growth finance, mainly revenue-based finance, to small and growing businesses led by women in Nigeria’s real economy. It is led by Yemi Keri, one of the founders of Rising Tide Africa, and Irene Ochem, founder and CEO of AWIEF. Investors choose the transactions they back, and an investment committee reviews every deal.
Businesses led by women seeking growth finance can contact investments@risingtideafrica.com.
About Rising Tide Africa
Rising Tide Africa is a women-led, pan-African angel investment network founded in 2016. Its 122 members are senior women investors based in seven countries. Over the past decade, the network has backed 39 early-stage companies across fintech, healthtech, agritech, climate, proptech, edtech and essential services. Every investment includes hands-on support through Rising Tide Africa’s MINE model: Mentoring, Investment, Networking and Education.
Women investors across Africa and the diaspora are invited to apply for membership at rtamembership@risingtideafrica.com.
About AWIEF
AWIEF is a leading and award-winning pan-African organisation advancing women’s entrepreneurship and economic inclusion. Established since 2015, AWIEF has directly supported more than 6,500 female founders and entrepreneurs with enterprise development programmes, training, and mentorship while facilitating access to finance, markets and networks. Indirectly, AWIEF has reached and impacted millions through its annual AWIEF Conference, Exhibition and Awards – a flagship convening of women entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, government, and development partners from across Africa and globally. https://www.awieforum.org/
About FSD Africa
FSD Africa is a specialist development agency established in 2012 by the UK Government, working to make finance work for Africa’s future. Operating in over 30 African countries, FSD Africa mobilises finance that powers economic and social development while delivering environmental gains and building Africa’s resilience. Its Early-Stage Finance pillar works to build a financing ecosystem that enables the right kind of capital to reach small and growing businesses at the right time. FSD Africa is funded by the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
About the British High Commission in Nigeria
The British High Commission Nigeria represents the UK Government in Nigeria and works to advance the UK-Nigeria Strategic Partnership, a framework that deepens cooperation between both countries across economic growth, trade and investment, governance, security, climate, education, healthcare, innovation, security cooperation and diplomatic engagement.
Media Contacts
RiTA Investment Network: Aisha Farooq, Aisha.Farooq@risingtideafrica.com
FSD Africa: Kaara Wainaina on email address, kaara@fsdafrica.org
British High Commission: Ndidiamaka Eze, Comms Lead, Growth, Trade and Investment, Ndidiamaka.eze@fcdo.gov.uk
