Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has announced plans to build a $2.6 billion loan portfolio for women-owned businesses and agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises by 2030, targeting two segments facing significant financing shortages across Africa.
The Lomé-based banking group said the initiative comprises a $2 billion lending target for women-owned and women-led businesses and $600 million for agricultural SMEs. The figures represent portfolio targets to be achieved by 2030, rather than an immediate, one-off disbursement.
Strategy Combines Financing with Training and Digital Tools
The strategy combines financing with banking services, business training and digital tools intended to help smaller enterprises expand. Through its women-focused programme, Ellever, Ecobank plans to grow its loan portfolio for women entrepreneurs to $2 billion.
The bank said it has already supported more than 110,000 women-led businesses and aims to reach 400,000 SMEs. It also intends to provide banking services and training to nearly one million women micro-entrepreneurs, with particular attention to digital skills.
Financing will cover sectors including agribusiness, healthcare and education, extending support to businesses providing essential goods and services. Ecobank also plans to use guarantees from development finance institutions to reduce risks associated with SME lending, helping the bank extend financing while managing its exposure to borrowers.
Agricultural Lending Targets $600 Million Portfolio
The agricultural component aims to build $600 million in outstanding loans to SMEs operating throughout the food and farming economy. Ecobank said its approach would extend beyond seasonal farm financing to producers, aggregators, processors, logistics operators, traders and exporters.
This means the initiative would cover businesses involved in moving, processing and selling agricultural products, alongside those directly engaged in production. Group chief executive Jeremy Awori said the strategy was designed to support the transformation of African agriculture, with priorities including climate-resilient farming, digital rural payments and trade finance.
The bank also plans to use its continental network and payment infrastructure to support regional agricultural markets and transactions between businesses.
Digital Trade Platform Supports Continental Ambitions
Ecobank said its digital trade platform connects more than 60,000 businesses, providing a channel to support participation in intra-African commerce under the African Continental Free Trade Area. The initiative follows the group’s May 2026 commitment to provide $3 billion over three years for intra-African and global trade.
Together, the commitments outline Ecobank’s ambition to expand financing for smaller enterprises and strengthen commercial links across African markets.
Financing Gaps Remain Substantial
The planned lending comes against a backdrop of persistent funding shortages. The African Development Bank estimates the financing gap for women-owned and women-led SMEs at $49 billion, while agricultural SMEs face an estimated annual shortfall of $96 billion.
Those gaps underline the scale of unmet demand that Ecobank’s proposed portfolio seeks to help address. In a related development, Legit.ng earlier reported that the Federal Government has backed the National Credit Guarantee Company’s (NCGC) GuaranteeHer initiative, a gender-responsive credit guarantee scheme designed to unlock more than N100 billion in financing for women-owned and women-led businesses over the next five years.
The initiative is expected to support more than 20,000 women-owned and women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and create or sustain over 150,000 direct and indirect jobs across Nigeria.
