As part of its Kuda for Her campaign for this year’s Women’s Month, Kuda Microfinance Bank (MFB) is inviting Lagos-based women entrepreneurs in the food and hospitality sector to pitch their businesses for a chance to receive ₦1 million in funding.

Kuda MFB

The Kuda for Her Pitch Challenge, which launched on March 10, 2026, will award ₦1 million each to four women-led businesses, giving them capital to scale.

According to the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), women own about 43% of micro and small enterprises in Nigeria, many of which are in the food, catering, and hospitality sectors. Yet, women entrepreneurs continue to face barriers to growth, particularly in accessing capital, with only about 23% of women-owned businesses in Nigeria currently having access to formal credit.

Women who run food or hospitality businesses can submit a pitch outlining their business and how the funding will help them grow. Applications are open until March 15, 2026.

The four grant recipients will be announced on March 27, 2026.

Emmanuel Femi-Adejobi, Senior Brand Manager at Kuda, mentioned that the campaign is designed to recognise and support women whose businesses shape everyday life in Nigerian cities.

“Many of the food and hospitality businesses that Nigerians rely on every day are built and run by women,” he said. “Through Kuda for Her, we’re supporting these hardworking entrepreneurs directly while also shining a light on the ambition and creativity behind the businesses they’ve built”

Women entrepreneurs who run food or hospitality businesses in Lagos can submit their pitches before March 15, 2026, at kuda.com/kuda-for-her/.

Thrifto, a new Nigerian fintech, is modernizing age-old group savings like ajo (Yoruba), esusu (South-West), and adashe (North) with a bank-integrated web app, slashing risks of defaults, disputes, and lost funds.

Sulaimon Biodun Durojaiye

Founded by Sulaimon Biodun Durojaiye, media entrepreneur, Thrifto lets users create or join groups, set contributions, cycles, and payouts.

It tracks records transparently, preserving cultural collaboration while adding tech accountability. “We’re providing structure and transparency without replacing the spirit of ajo,” Durojaiye said.

Early users—salary earners, entrepreneurs, small businesses—form groups for school fees, rent, or capital. The platform eliminates friction like poor bookkeeping and payout fights, driving organic growth nationwide.

Launching next week, a self-saving feature lets users automate fixed amounts (e.g., ₦5,000 daily or ₦50,000 weekly) toward goals, enforcing consistency solo.

A Trust Rating Score, based on participation history, rewards reliable users, aiding smarter group choices and fostering responsible behavior.

Tailored for Nigerian realities, Thrifto taps informal savings to expand inclusion. Observers see it strengthening networks and discipline in Nigeria’s fintech landscape.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new baseline standards requiring banks and other financial institutions to deploy automated anti-money laundering systems capable of detecting suspicious transactions and financial fraud risks in real time.

The directive, contained in a circular released yesterday, mandates banks, mobile money operators, international money transfer operators and other regulated institutions to implement automated solutions that strengthen monitoring, detection and reporting of suspicious financial activities.

According to the apex bank, the framework establishes minimum technical, governance and operational standards for automated systems used to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing within Nigeria’s financial system.

CBN said the move was necessary as the financial services sector becomes increasingly digital and complex, making manual monitoring methods inadequate for managing evolving financial crime risks.

Under the new framework, deposit money banks (DMBs) are expected to achieve full compliance within 18 months from the date of issuance, while other financial institutions will have 24 months to comply.

Institutions are also required to submit detailed implementation roadmaps to the CBN’s compliance department within three months.

The standards apply to all institutions operating under the CBN’s regulatory purview, although the depth and sophistication of implementation will depend on each institution’s size, transaction volumes, operational complexity and risk exposure.

The framework outlines several minimum capabilities that automated anti-money laundering (AML) systems must possess, including customer identification and verification, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and case management for suspicious activities.

Financial institutions are also expected to ensure their systems integrate customer data with transaction patterns so that suspicious behaviour can be assessed in the context of a customer’s risk profile.

The CBN said institutions should strengthen identity verification processes by integrating onboarding systems with national databases such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) platforms to support real-time identity checks.

The framework permits the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the detection of unusual financial patterns.

However, the regulator said such technologies must operate under strict governance frameworks, including independent validation and human oversight.

Institutions deploying AI-based monitoring models will be required to conduct periodic validation to ensure accuracy, reliability and fairness in the detection of suspicious transactions.

The standards also require financial institutions to maintain secure data protection controls, including encryption, role-based access and multi-factor authentication, in compliance with Nigeria’s data protection regulations.

In addition, the systems are to maintain comprehensive audit trails of transactions, alerts, investigations and system activities to support regulatory supervision and forensic investigations.

The CBN said compliance with the framework will be monitored through off-site surveillance, on-site examinations and thematic reviews, warning that institutions that fail to implement the standards may face regulatory sanctions under existing banking and financial crime laws.