I don’t have money to start my business, what do I do?
This has been and is still among the top (challenges) most entrepreneurs face when starting a business. Some may even take it as a cliche to excuse themselves from really a business.
Not only for startups, most small businesses have bigger visions that require finance to carry out, but are cash-trapped. In Nigeria one may ask, are there institutions that provide financial support for small businesses?
Yes, there are!
Some private and public organizations provide support for small and medium-scale enterprises. Just like in most countries, Nigeria has various programs that support SMEs.
Business plan and Business registration are two basic requirements that most financial institutions require. Take time in drafting a standard business for your business, as it will give you an edge over other businesses.
1. The Tony Elumelu Foundation
The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading champion of entrepreneurship in Africa. The foundation was founded by philanthropist and investor Tony O. Elumelu which leverages its strong relationships in the public, private, and development sectors to drive its mission of creating prosperity for all.
In 2015, the program was launched with a $100 million commitment by Tony Elumelu to empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs over 10 years. Every year 1,000 entrepreneurs are selected across Africa from a range of 50,000 applicants.
All applications are carefully reviewed by industry experts and selections are based on feasibility, market opportunity, financial understanding, scalability, and leadership potential. Applications usually run from the 1st of January to the 1st of March.
2. Bank of Industry (BOI)
The Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) Programme is BOI’s effort to address the worrisome phenomenon of youth unemployment in Nigeria by building the capacity of the youths and funding their business ideas.
The YES program is aimed at equipping young people with the requisite skills and knowledge to be self-employed by starting and managing their businesses. They provide access to funds for startups, SMEs, and large enterprises. The program is also empowering young entrepreneurs with the requisite knowledge required to scale through the business environment.
3. Grofin Fund
GroFin is a pioneering private development finance institution specializing in the finance and support of small and growing businesses (SGBs). GroFin’s purpose is to develop a scalable, replicable, and sustainable business model for the SME missing middle.
GroFin focuses on SGBs operating in education, healthcare, agri-business, manufacturing, and key services (water, energy, and sanitation). GroFin targets these vital needs sectors because of the impact these businesses have in directly working towards the SDGs and thus their capacity to alleviate poverty.
4. AFRICA’S YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS EMPOWERMENT NIGERIA (AYEEN)
This is the foremost entrepreneurial empowerment program in Africa birthed to develop and empower the next generation of Nigerian young entrepreneurs. AYEEN was launched to torchlight innovative, exceptional, and viable business/ideas in Nigeria that have all the ingredients for success and growth regardless of sector.
AYEEN attracts and engages over 25, 000 entrepreneurs from the 36 States in Nigeria and the FCT with diverse businesses/ideas in various sectors of the economy who are screened annually, and several hundred are directly empowered with grants, mentorship, equipment, training, and loans.
5 African Women Development Fund (AWDF)
The African Women Development Fund grantmaking ensures resources reach hundreds of African women’s organizations that are working in diverse ways to improve the lives of women and African society at large.
AWDF’s grantmaking is innovative, flexible, and creative. Through their grants, they support both established and small, locally-based women’s organizations. AWDF also provides specialized funding to facilitate learning and networking opportunities and to celebrate the contributions and achievements of many un-sung African heroines.
Conclusion
I believe by now you must have seen one or two funding options from our list to support your business. However, there are still other options that we will add to this post as we get the information, in the meantime, you can apply for the ones that match your business criteria.
You can check our website, as we will be adding incredible funding opportunities that will help you grow and scale your business.
