A sustainability advocate has unveiled a ₦3million business grant targeted at entrepreneurs building climate-tech and circular economy solutions across Nigeria. The initiative, introduced through the Atunlo Green Earth Foundation, aims to strengthen the operational capacity of early-stage businesses that often struggle to access the funding, technical guidance, and market visibility required to scale.
The grant focuses on founders whose ideas can expand practically within Nigeria’s unique economic landscape, particularly solutions that minimise waste, improve resource efficiency, and promote cleaner production. Many emerging climate-focused MSMEs operate with innovative concepts but lack the financial support needed to validate their models, strengthen systems, or meet regulatory and market expectations. The new funding is meant to address these gaps by giving entrepreneurs a chance to consolidate their work and demonstrate long-term sustainability.
The foundation explained that applicants must operate registered, active businesses and provide a strong overview of their operations, growth plan, and a budget that clearly shows how the grant will generate measurable outcomes. This approach is intended to ensure that the selected entrepreneurs are not only innovative but also positioned to deliver real environmental and economic value.
The initiative reflects the founder’s long-running commitment to nurturing small businesses that combine profitability with impact. Over the years, he has supported programmes that give young businesses access to training, mentorship, funding, and networks that are often unavailable to early-stage entrepreneurs. This grant builds on that mission by focusing specifically on climate resilience and green innovation, two areas becoming increasingly critical to Africa’s development agenda.
The foundation noted that climate-oriented MSMEs play a growing role in job creation, renewable energy adoption, sustainable waste management, recycling, and improved supply chains. However, many still face structural challenges that prevent them from expanding beyond their immediate communities. The grant aims to reduce these limitations by equipping selected entrepreneurs with the resources to refine their business models, improve their technical capacity, and reach larger markets.
By promoting solutions that support Nigeria’s green transition, the initiative is expected to stimulate innovation within the environmental sector while encouraging other private-sector leaders to invest in climate-smart enterprises. The foundation emphasised that supporting entrepreneurs at this stage can create ripple effects across industries, from agriculture and manufacturing to energy and urban development.
The programme is positioned not only as a financial intervention but as a catalyst for a stronger ecosystem where sustainability-driven businesses can thrive, attract more partners, and contribute meaningfully to national development goals.
