Top 5 Business Grants Providers In Nigeria

The backbone of every business is finance. Anyone who seriously wants to succeed in business need to inject fund into his/her business in order to keep it going. One of the ways to get funds for your business is by applying for grants. In this article, I’ll be showing you ‘top 5 business grants providers in Nigeria.

Note: Grant is different from loan.

What is a grant?

A grant in simple term is an amount of money given to a person or groups of persons as financial assistance for a defined purpose. Unlike a loan that you pay back with interest rates, grants required no pay back. But in some cases, if the receiver of a grant abandoned the project for which he recieved the grant would required to pay back the money. For example; if a student recieved grant to study, and he abandoned his studies, then he might be required to pay back.

Having known what grant is, let deeply look into pros and cons of grants.

Grants pros and cons

Advantages:

• Grant is free support (there’s no pay back for the money)
• You’ll not lose any control over your company or organization.
• Most of the time, your credit history will not affect your submission’s chances of success.

Disadvantages:

• You need to find grant that match your specific needs; this might not be easy.
• Competition is very high since many people, companies, and organisations also apply for grants.
• Grants do not usually cover the whole cost of a project. Therefore, you will need to use your own  money to fund some of it.
• Grants are not usually awarded for projects that have already begun. 
• Applying for a grant can be time consuming.

Top 5 Business Grants Providers In Nigeria

When it comes to where to get grant in Nigeria for your business, there are many options but I have decided to narrow the scope to only 5 best options.

1. Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme: This foundation was founded and named after a business mogul, Tony Elumelu. Tony launched his goundation in 2015 and since then, this foundation has been providing grants to support African entrepreneurs. Every year, over 1,000 people are selected to participate, and they are granted funds to start up their business.

2. Bank of Industry: Bank of Industry also offers grants for almost all categories of entrepreneurs. If you are a serving NYSC member, you can apply for ‘Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund’ grant by submitting your business idea, and if the experts approve it, you will be able to receive a grant of up to N2million. If you are a graduate under 35, and you want to venture into agriculture, Bank Of Industry get you covered as well, they also give grants to those that want to venture into film making, designing and automotive industry.

3. GroFin Fund: The third in our list is GroFin. They provide funds for small businesses across Africa, and even in Middle East. There are about five different grants you can choose from depending on what you want;

i) Aspire Growth Fund, ii) Aspire Small Business Fund,

iii) Small Growing Business Fund,

iv) Growth Africa Fund v) Aspire Nigeria Fund.

Kindly be informed that GroFin are more interested on already existing businesses, so if you have any business in Nigeria or anywhere in Africa, GroFin grant is for you.

4. AYEEN Financial Grants: AYEEN provides grants, coaching, and as well as business mentorship for young Nigerian entrepreneurs.

5. Lagos State Entrepreneurs Trust Fund: The last but not the least is LSETF. This grants can be of great help to residents of Lagos state who want to start their own business.

The fund help people develop their small and medium scale businesses in Lagos State. This includes providing them with both knowledge and necessary funds.