Women must become co-creators of prosperity — Minister

n n

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has called for a shift in the approach to women’s economic empowerment, saying women should move from being beneficiaries of intervention programmes to becoming co-creators of prosperity.

n

According to a statement released on Friday, Sulaiman-Ibrahim made the remarks at the SheIsIncluded 2026 Summit.

n

At the summit, the Federal Government outlined plans to expand economic opportunities to 10 million Nigerian women through skills development, recognised credentials and access to employment and entrepreneurship.

n

“For too long, women have largely been beneficiaries of intervention programmes. What we want now is to economically empower them so they become co-creators of prosperity,” the minister said.

n

The two-day summit, convened by the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, was held under the theme, “Designing for Delivery: Financing. Systems. Scale.”

n

She said the initiative is part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is designed to move beyond policy commitments by establishing a delivery framework involving government, development partners, financial institutions and private-sector organisations.

n

The summit comes as the government seeks to increase women’s participation in an economy where access to skills, finance and employment remains uneven.

n

Under the SheIsIncluded initiative, women will be able to access free, mobile-first learning in local languages using phones they already own. The learning programme concludes with a verifiable credential intended to be recognised by employers and financial institutions.

n

The initiative is supported by Ubuntu Tribe, its implementation and technology partner, through Ubuntu Tribe Academy.

n

Founder of Ubuntu Tribe, Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, said technology could help remove barriers that prevent women from accessing opportunities.

n

“A woman should not need wealth or proximity to opportunity to develop a valuable skill,” Toure said.

n

He said the company’s role was to make learning accessible through mobile phones and provide credentials that could be recognised by the economy.

n

The Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion and Secretary of PreCEFI, Nurudeen Zauro, said the summit marked a transition from policy discussions to implementation.

n

“The summit marks a decisive transition from policy conversations to practical implementation,” Zauro said.

n

The SheIsIncluded movement aims to bring 10 million Nigerian women within reach of skills, recognition and economic opportunities through a coordinated national delivery model.

n

The initiative forms part of the government’s wider economic development agenda, including its ambition to build a $1tn economy by 2030.

n

The government said national digital skills initiatives had reached more than 263,000 Nigerians, although the figure is separate from SheIsIncluded and does not represent the programme’s results.

n

The success of the initiative will ultimately depend on its ability to translate its 10 million-women ambition into measurable outcomes, including recognised skills, employment, entrepreneurship and greater participation in Nigeria’s economy.

n n