Nigeria has launched its first Gender Bond, a 7.5 billion naira Series 2 five-year fixed-rate bond designed to finance women-owned and women-led small and medium enterprises. The bond was issued by Chapel Hill Financing SPV Plc under its 250 billion naira Debt Issuance Programme and represents a milestone for the Nigerian capital market by opening a new channel of long-term capital to a historically underserved business segment.
The net proceeds will be directed to women-owned and women-led SMEs and MSMEs through Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria SME Limited, which operates as a gender lens SME impact investment platform. Every borrower must meet SME.NG's eligibility requirements, the 2X Criteria set by 2X Global, and a framework aligned with the International Capital Market Association Social Bond Principles. Agusto & Co. provided an independent Second Party Opinion verifying that both the issuance and the portfolio of eligible businesses comply with ICMA Social Bond Principles and Chapel Hill's sustainability strategy.
Bolaji Balogun, Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill, said women-owned businesses create jobs and drive growth across Nigeria but struggle to access longer-duration capital. He stated that the bond puts long-term capital directly behind these businesses. FSD Africa, funded by the UK's FCDO, supported the issuance as Sustainable Finance Adviser, playing an important role in enabling the transaction.
Evans Osano, chief financial markets officer at FSD Africa, described Nigeria's first gender bond as a milestone showing that investor capital can be directed deliberately to women. He said FSD Africa worked with Chapel Hill to build a credible, independently reviewed structure linking every naira raised to women-led and women-owned businesses, expressing hope that the offer becomes a template for other issuers.
For savers and investors in Nigeria, the bond offers an opportunity to direct capital toward women entrepreneurs while potentially supporting broader economic growth, though the fixed rate and five-year term mean returns are locked in advance.