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AECF Launches Second Round of Funding to Empower Women’s Agricultural Cooperatives in Kano
Kano, Nigeria – The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), has today launched the second round of funding for the Investing in Women in Nigeria (IIW Nigeria) programme. This initiative focuses on empowering women’s agricultural cooperatives in Kano State by providing critical resources to strengthen their role in agriculture and improve their livelihoods amid challenging economic conditions.
The new funding round will be open to existing women’s associations and cooperatives, enabling them to access productive assets such as land, agricultural technologies, and markets. These grants will help cooperatives invest in activities that directly increase members’ incomes, such as adopting improved farming techniques and upgrading processing methods.
Beyond financial assistance, the programme provides capacity-building support through local providers to ensure women-led cooperatives acquire the necessary financial and management skills for long-term success.
Susan Situma, Director of Programmes at AECF, said:
“Nigeria’s agricultural sector is the backbone of rural livelihoods, yet women—who form the bulk of the workforce—are often marginalized in accessing resources and markets. This programme is designed to address their barriers. By investing in women-led cooperatives, we not only provide financial support but also empower women to lead their communities toward economic recovery and resilience. In a time of economic hardships and climate challenges, this funding can be a lifeline”
This funding window will allocate a total of CAN $1.1 million in non-repayable grants to women-led cooperatives in Kano State. It aims to support up to 40 groups, with each group receiving an average grant of up to CAN $25,000.
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About AECF
AECF (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organization that supports innovative businesses in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting resilient communities, and creating jobs.
We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models, and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high-risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.
To date, we have supported more than 510 businesses in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, touched more than 33 million lives, and created more than 35,000 direct jobs.
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