LAPO Microfinance Bank has partnered with the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) to launch a climate-smart financing pilot aimed at empowering women, smallholder farmers, and women-led businesses in rural Nigeria
The pilot is supported by grants from the Visa Foundation and la Caixa, and is expected to expand access to climate-adaptive finance for 20,000 smallholder farmers, including at least 6,600 women, and 5,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, of which women will manage more than 2,200.
The programme’s motive is to reduce climate-related risks in agriculture and strengthen productivity and rural supply chains. It will also equip local financial institutions with climate-risk tools such as UNEP’s Microfinance for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (MEBA) toolkit and the FAO’s Adaptation, Biodiversity and Carbon (ABC) mapping tool, while strengthening impact measurement. It will also position LAPO Microfinance Bank as a national reference institution under the Women Entrepreneurs (WE) Finance Code
Isidro Fainé, Chairman of la Caixa Foundation, said, “We are delighted to see the social involvement of savings and retail banking grow worldwide, especially through projects that contribute to poverty reduction, youth empowerment, female entrepreneurship, and environmental sustainability. Local financial support is key, and it is a pleasure for La Caixa Foundation to contribute in collaboration with the Visa Foundation.”
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Najada Kumbuli, president of the Visa Foundation, described financial inclusion as “a powerful lever for ensuring the digital economy is accessible to all,” noting that supporting small business owners with the right resources is one of the most effective ways to drive sustainable growth in local communities.
Cynthia Ikonmwosa, managing director and chief executive officer of LAPO Microfinance Bank, said the initiative positions the banks to deliver climate-smart financial solutions for the first time to women farmers and entrepreneurs, whom she described as “vital to rural resilience,” adding that the partnership would enable inclusive and sustainable impact across Nigeria.
The initiative aligns with Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) and National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS 3.0), LAPO Microfinance Bank’s rural resilience agenda, and WSBI’s global partnerships under the World Bank-hosted Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code. The pilot will be led by WSBI’s Development Finance Unit, established in 2023, drawing on more than 30 years of combined experience in scaling finance, gender, and climate initiatives.