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

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Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments

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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).

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Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment disclosed this at a high-level colloquium organised by the ministry, on Friday in Abuja.

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Oduwole said that the programme was aimed at exploring strategies for improving finance access and market opportunities for women-led businesses.

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She described AfCFTA as a transformative opportunity linking over 1.3 billion people in a market valued above three trillion dollars.

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Oduwole said that women entrepreneurs must be intentionally supported to scale their businesses across Africa.

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According to her, access to finance, markets and institutional support will drive industrial growth, job creation and trade expansion.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“The partnership will support export readiness training, improve digital trade capacity, and create a national database of women-owned enterprises,” she said.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Permanent Secretary was represented by Mrs Gertrude Orji, Director of Investment Promotion. (NAN)

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