By 7 a.m., the smoking kilns in Ajegunle are already burning.
The aroma of smoked fish fills the air as women prepare fresh catches for the day's market. Some arrange baskets of catfish, while others sort periwinkle or tend to the fire beneath metal drums that have become essential to their trade.
Behind the bustle is another story, one not immediately visible to visitors.
For many years, these women worked tirelessly but struggled to grow their businesses.
Most did not keep records of their daily sales or expenses. Business capital and household income were often mixed together, leaving many unsure whether they were making a profit or simply surviving.
During a recent visit to the community, Our Correspondent found evidence that those financial habits are gradually changing.
The changes are linked to the Money Mata Initiative, a financial literacy and business empowerment programme implemented by ENATTA Foundation to help women in fishing communities develop practical money management skills through savings, record keeping, mentoring and access to affordable business support.
Walking through the community, one thing stood out.
The women were determined, despite the physically demanding nature of fish processing, many spoke confidently about growing their businesses and securing better futures for their families.
Several beneficiaries told our reporter that access to working capital loans and equipment has helped them reduce the financial pressures that once limited their businesses.
According to ENATTA Foundation, smoking kilns and drums are provided under a loan scheme with a five per cent interest rate.
Beneficiaries interviewed described the arrangement as more affordable than borrowing from many conventional lenders and microfinance institutions, whose repayment conditions they said often proved difficult because of the unpredictable nature of their income.
For Bose Edewole, the difference between then and now begins before she even arrives at the market.Before joining the programme, the catfish trader relied almost entirely on buying fish on credit.
"Before I met ENATTA Foundation team, I usually buy my products on credit and after sales I return the money then buy another set," she recalled.
Buying on credit kept her business running, but it came at a price. Suppliers added extra charges to the goods, reducing the profits she took home after every market day.
Today, she says that cycle has changed."I now go to the market with money at hand with assurance that I make my profit.
During the period I buy on credit, there's extra money been added on the goods purchased but now that I go with my money at hand, I buy at the original market price, make sales and have enough profits to buy extra, feed my family, save for raining days and expand my business."
Edewole now keeps records of her daily transactions using the Money Mata record book, helping her monitor her spending, profit and savings.
She hopes to acquire a smoking kiln and drum to diversify into fish processing and further expand her business.Her story reflects a broader shift emerging in Ajegunle.
For many women, the biggest change is not simply receiving financial support, but learning to manage money differently—protecting business capital, tracking expenses and seeing savings not as a luxury, but as a foundation for growth.
If Bose Edewole's journey is about escaping the cycle of buying fish on credit, Mrs Okunyiminu Olufunke's story is about learning the value of financial discipline.The periwinkle harvester and fish processor said there was a time when she sold her products without knowing exactly how much she earned or spent."
Before when I sell my goods, I spend the money without accountability and direction which always land me into debts and frustration due to the fact that I have no investment knowledge," she said.
That changed after she participated in ENATTA Foundation's Money Mata Initiative.Today, she records her daily transactions in her Money Mata Record Keeping Book, separating her business finances into capital, expenses, profit and savings."
My Capital, Expenses (Transport, feeding), Profit and savings help track my activities," she explained.
Beyond financial literacy, Olufunke said the support extended to improving her productivity.
Before receiving assistance, she relied on smoking facilities owned by people in neighbouring communities, making it difficult to process fish at her convenience."
When we were in need of smoking klin and other equipment they provided it for us... but now that we have our personal working tools, work has been fantastic," she said.
For Mrs Ronke, who has spent more than 40 years in the fish business, the initiative reinforced an important lesson: a business cannot grow if every earning is immediately spent."
When I started my fish business, it's from one struggles to another more than four decades now but when I met our mummy ENATTA everything changed for good," she said.
According to Ronke, ENATTA Foundation replaced her damaged fish-smoking equipment with a smoking kiln and drum, enabling her to continue processing fish and sustain her livelihood.
She said the financial literacy sessions also changed the way she manages her income."I learnt that it's not good to eat with our ten fingers," she said."
If I make a profit of ten thousand in my fish business I divide the money, save five thousand naira, use the other to cover feeding and other little expenses in the household.
Now I have enough money to expand my business."
The experiences shared by the beneficiaries mirror the challenges ENATTA Foundation encountered when the programme began.
Mrs Oyediji Bamitale, a field officer with the foundation, said many women in the fishing communities had little or no formal education and had never kept business records.
According to her, many participants did not distinguish between capital, income and profit, often spending business proceeds without setting aside money to sustain or grow their enterprises.
She added that language barriers also presented challenges in some communities, where interpreters were needed before training sessions could be effectively delivered.
Despite these obstacles, Bamitale said practical demonstrations, continuous mentoring and regular follow-up visits helped participants gradually embrace record keeping and savings.
She said many women can now use their records to track business performance over months, identify spending patterns and make better decisions about pricing, reinvestment and future growth.
For ENATTA Foundation, the Money Mata Initiative is not simply about teaching women to save money.
It is about equipping them with practical financial skills and affordable business support to strengthen their livelihoods.
For the women of Ajegunle, however, the impact is measured in more personal terms.
It is the confidence of going to the market with cash instead of debt.It is the discipline of recording each day's earnings before spending.It is the opportunity to reinvest in a small business instead of merely surviving from one market day to the next.
Those changes may appear modest on paper, but for many families in this waterfront community, they represent the first steps towards greater financial independence—one record book, one saving and one business decision at a time.
