MTN Foundation, BOI Back 200 Women Entrepreneurs With N1bn Equipment Financing

MTN Foundation and the Bank of Industry (BOI) have strengthened their support for women-owned businesses through the third edition of the Y’ellopreneur programme, with 200 female entrepreneurs set to benefit from a N1 billion equipment financing fund.

The initiative culminated in a pitch session held on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at the MTN Rooftop Events Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, following six weeks of intensive business training at the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan-Atlantic University.

Y’ellopreneur 3.0 recipients during the Business Pitch session in Lagos

The training was designed to equip participants with practical skills in business planning, management, market readiness and financial management, while preparing them to access equipment financing to expand their enterprises.

The N1 billion matching fund, jointly financed on a 50:50 basis by MTN Foundation and BOI, provides eligible women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with access to loans of up to N5 million each.

The programme targets businesses across sectors including agro-processing, light manufacturing, fashion, energy, waste management and digital services. In addition to financing, participants receive structured training and business advisory support aimed at helping them build sustainable and scalable enterprises.

Speaking during the pitch session, Dr. Sandra O. Yoroh, State Manager, Bank of Industry, said the training had helped participants gain a clearer understanding of business structure and what is required to build viable enterprises.

“They understand what they need to have a structure in the business and what it means for a business to be properly structured,” Yoroh said.

She added that BOI would provide business advisory services and assess the businesses presented by the participants as part of efforts to support their long-term growth.

For Adejo Oladunni Olamide, Supervisor at Dunz Agro Food, the six-week programme offered practical lessons that have improved her approach to managing and expanding the agribusiness, which operates in farming and food processing.

Olamide said the training strengthened her knowledge of business, staff and customer management while helping her develop a clearer strategy for growth.

“The journey so far has been so innovative, from the learning, to the application, to the pitching. Through this process, I’ve been able to acquire knowledge on business management, staff management, and customer management,” she said.

She expressed optimism that the programme would increase her business’s visibility and enable her to adopt a more productive approach to operations.

The emphasis on both capacity building and access to finance comes amid persistent challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Nigeria. According to the World Bank, women own about 40 per cent of the country’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, but female-led businesses continue to encounter greater obstacles in accessing finance.

World Bank research has also shown that women-led businesses recorded a 56 per cent loan rejection rate, compared with 17 per cent for male-led businesses.

Through Y’ellopreneur 3.0, MTN Foundation and BOI are seeking to bridge part of this financing gap by combining entrepreneurship training, pitching opportunities, business advisory services and equipment financing.

A total of 760 entrepreneurs participated in the pitch session, with up to 200 women entrepreneurs expected to receive equipment financing of up to N5 million each to support business expansion and productivity.