11,374 Women accounted for the beneficiaries of credit mobilised by the National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC) in its first year, highlighting the persistent gender gap in access to formal financing and prompting a new initiative targeting more than N100 billion in credit for female-led businesses.
NCGC’s inaugural impact report, released in August 2026, showed that 67,512 end-borrowers reached through its guarantee programmes were women-owned businesses.
Overall, the company provided N21.59 billion in risk cover through 19 participating financial institutions, unlocking N46.95 billion in direct loans across 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The credit reached businesses through 13 commercial banks, three microfinance banks and three development finance institutions, while an estimated 661,291 direct and indirect jobs were supported.
The report also showed that about 22,600 beneficiaries, representing 33.5 per cent of the total, were first-time formal borrowers.
