Matilda (Tilda) Ndu Mmegwa has emerged as 2025 winner of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-ESRC Impact Award.
She won the prestigious award under the Coventry University ESRC-IAA post-graduate research, for her PhD research on: “Driving growth for SMEs via the use of sustainable Finance: the case of Nigeria”.
The award is a testament of Tilda’s efforts to advance sustainable finance in the SMEs sector in Nigeria for socioeconomic growth.
This reaffirms her keen drive for sustainability, innovation, competitiveness and inclusivity.
In their remarks, the ESRC-IAA Panel of Expert Reviewers said, “This research has an extremely impressive list of beneficiaries and is remarkably ambitious in scope. This looks like a very worthy application with good potential for delivering real change”.
The Research looked at critical issues of sustainable growth, efficient resource utilisation and job creation challenge nations, especially the developing and emerging economies, including Nigeria.
Leveraging the research result should enable Nigeria to achieve the needed transformation of the SMEs sector.
“Although Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have the potential to contribute significantly to addressing these challenges, they face major hindrances including ease of doing business, unfavorable policies, informalities, and significant finance gap. Traditional finance is expensive and short-term, and global shift to sustainability has increased investors’ eco-consciousness, making them prefer sustainable finance (SF) and sustainable businesses.
“This research focused on Sustainable Finance for growth of Nigerian SMEs and, thus critically investigated how Sustainable Finance (SF) is leveraged in Nigeria for driving sustainability and growth of SMEs. Key focus was on the banks (supply-side) and the SF ecosystem, especially evaluating the factors that influence SF products design, how products are deployed to SMEs, and the impact of SF on SMEs and socioeconomic development”, Tilda said.
“Addressing SMEs’ finance gap will enable them to contribute to tackling the challenges faced by Nigeria. Resolving these challenges will position the country to achieve long-term sustainability (a key consideration for local and global investors), sustainable economic development, environmental protection, and social equity that reflect better access to education, healthcare, and good living standards.
“SMEs for efficient resource utilization will lead to better governance and policy outcomes, maximize economic growth and improve competitiveness. Additionally, through job creation, SMEs will stimulate local economies, reduce unemployment and catalyse human capital development by upskilling and reskilling people in key areas especially the growing sustainable sectors such as technology, healthcare, agriculture and renewable energy,” she added.
The research finds four categories of themes that constitute the sustainable finance (SF) ecosystem in Nigeria: SF ecosystem functionality, SF distribution, SF sustainability and the Gaps in SF practice. Based on the findings the research created a new Sustainable Finance model for Nigeria SF ecosystem.
“This model will aid the identified SF ecosystem Actors (Banks, other SF Suppliers, SMEs, Corporates with SMEs supply chain, SF Enablers and Ecosystem Stakeholders and SF Policymakers) in improving the SF ecosystem in Nigeria. Key recommendation is digital transformation of the SF distribution (supply-side and demand-side) to address practice gaps, de-risk SMEs and improve efficiency of SF ecosystem”, she noted.
SF ecosystem Actors need to come together and leverage insights from the research results to co-create a solution that would enhance sustainable finance ecosystem in Nigeria for improved sustainable practices, business growth and socioeconomic development.
“There is need to shift from the current policy direction that respond to SMEs’ finance gap by using government-funded grants, interventions funds, and concessional finance, to more comprehensive ecosystem-based policies that focus on catalysing SF Enablers to support the banks in driving local SF for growth of SMEs,” Tilda further noted.
