Chapel Hill Advisory Partners Limited has launched a N7.5 billion gender bond aimed at expanding access to long-term financing for women-owned and women-led businesses in Nigeria.
The five-year fixed-rate bond, issued by Chapel Hill Financing SPV Plc as Series 2 under its N250 billion Debt Issuance Programme, is Nigeria’s first gender bond specifically designed to channel capital to businesses owned and led by women.
The initiative is expected to address persistent financing challenges confronting women entrepreneurs, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which often struggle to secure affordable long-term capital to expand their operations.
According to the company, the net proceeds from the bond will be deployed through Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria SME Limited (SME.NG), its gender-focused SME impact investment platform, to finance eligible women-owned and women-led businesses.
To qualify for financing, businesses must satisfy SME.NG’s eligibility requirements, the 2X Criteria established by 2X Global and a framework aligned with the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) Social Bond Principles.
The development marks a significant step in the use of Nigeria’s capital market to address gender inequalities in access to finance and provide women entrepreneurs with alternative funding opportunities beyond conventional lending channels.
Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Advisory Partners, Bolaji Balogun, said women-owned businesses continued to contribute to job creation, economic opportunities and national growth but faced difficulties accessing longer-duration capital.
“Women-owned businesses create jobs, opportunities and drive growth across Nigeria, yet they find access to longer duration capital hard to find. This bond puts long term capital directly behind them,” Balogun said.
He expressed appreciation to FSD Africa for its partnership and support in facilitating the transaction.
FSD Africa, a financial sector development organisation funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), served as the Sustainable Finance Adviser to the transaction, providing technical support towards structuring the bond.
Its Chief Financial Markets Officer, Dr Evans Osano, described the issuance as an important development for Nigeria’s capital market, demonstrating how investor capital could be deliberately channelled towards women-owned and women-led enterprises.
Osano said FSD Africa worked with Chapel Hill through its technical assistance toolkit to develop a credible and independently reviewed financing structure linking funds raised to eligible businesses.
He expressed hope that the transaction would provide a model for other financial institutions and issuers seeking to expand gender-focused investments.
Meanwhile, Agusto & Co. provided an independent Second Party Opinion, confirming that the gender bond issuance and the underlying portfolio of eligible businesses to be financed through SME.NG align with the ICMA Social Bond Principles and Chapel Hill’s broader sustainability strategy.
The independent assessment is expected to provide investors with additional assurance regarding the transparency, integrity and intended social impact of the financing arrangement.
Beyond the size of the bond, its potential impact will depend on how effectively the financing reaches women entrepreneurs across different sectors and geographical locations.
For many women operating small businesses, particularly those outside major commercial centres, access to formal financing remains a significant challenge, often limiting their capacity to acquire equipment, increase production, employ additional workers and expand into new markets.
The initiative therefore presents an opportunity to strengthen women’s participation in Nigeria’s private sector, provided that eligible businesses can access the facility through transparent and clearly communicated processes.
It also raises questions about the geographical spread of beneficiaries, the financing conditions, the minimum and maximum amounts available to businesses and the extent to which smaller enterprises will be accommodated.
Providing information on these issues will be important in assessing the reach and effectiveness of the intervention.
Chapel Hill Advisory Partners is a Nigerian financial services firm with interests spanning investment banking, investment management, securities trading, pension fund management, insurance, fintech and investments.
The launch of the N7.5 billion gender bond adds a new instrument to Nigeria’s sustainable finance market, with a specific focus on addressing the financing gap affecting women entrepreneurs.
Its long-term significance will ultimately be measured by the number of businesses supported, the jobs sustained or created and the extent to which women-owned enterprises gain access to capital needed to achieve sustainable growth.
