Women-led businesses key to Nigeria’s $1trn economy – FG

2026-03-07 - 10:37

The Federal Government says empowering women-led enterprises is critical to achieving Nigeria’s one trillion-dollar economy target and strengthening the country’s competitiveness under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment disclosed this at a high-level colloquium organised by the ministry, on Friday in Abuja. Oduwole said that the programme was aimed at exploring strategies for improving finance access and market opportunities for women-led businesses. She described AfCFTA as a transformative opportunity linking over 1.3 billion people in a market valued above three trillion dollars. Oduwole said that women entrepreneurs must be intentionally supported to scale their businesses across Africa. According to her, access to finance, markets and institutional support will drive industrial growth, job creation and trade expansion. She said that empowering women entrepreneurs aligned with Nigeria’s ambition to build a one trillion-dollar economy through stronger exports, deeper industrial capacity and increased participation in continental trade. Sen. John Enoh, Minister of State for Industry, said that Nigeria’s leadership within AfCFTA would depend on building competitive industries capable of producing and exporting at scale. Enoh said that women already contributed significantly to sectors such as agriculture, retail, textiles and manufacturing but still faced barriers to finance and market access. The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said that gender-responsive trade policies were necessary to maximise AfCFTA opportunities and improve women’s participation in enterprise. She announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between her ministry and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to expand finance access for export-ready women entrepreneurs. “The partnership will support export readiness training, improve digital trade capacity, and create a national database of women-owned enterprises,” she said. Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, said that women’s participation would be critical to Africa’s trade growth and Nigeria’s broader economic transformation. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Nura Rimi, said that empowering women entrepreneurs would help expand Nigeria’s non-oil exports. Rimi said that the colloquium was aimed at strengthening collaboration among government institutions, investors and the private sector to support women-led enterprises and boost Nigeria’s competitiveness in Africa. The Permanent Secretary was represented by Mrs Gertrude Orji, Director of Investment Promotion. (NAN)