Nigeria’s economy thrives on women enterprises, SMEs – UN

BY NEWS DESK, OCTOBER 18, 2025 | 02:11 PM

The United Nations Women says women entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), play vital roles in sustaining Nigeria’s economy by contributing significantly to employment, innovation and national development.

Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representatives to Nigeria said this in Abuja at the 5th Conference of the Women Enterprise Alliance (WenA).

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the conference themed, “Policy Reforms and Resilience Strategies for Small Medium Enterprises in a New Economy’’, was supported by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

Eyong, represented by Mrs Patience Ekechukwu, UN National Programme Officer for Women’s Economic Empowerment, said that women-led enterprises were driving growth, creating jobs and reducing poverty across communities in spite persistent challenges.

“Nigeria’s economy rests firmly on the shoulders of small and medium enterprises.

“According to SMEDAN and NBS 2023 survey, MSMEs make up to 96.7 per cent of all businesses, contribute 49 per cent of national GDP and employ more than 84 per cent of the labour force.

“Within the sector, women own about 43 per cent of micro and small enterprises, yet most of these are in the informal economy, undercapitalised, underprotected and often overlooked in formal policy and financial system,” she said.

Eyong said that while women were visible in enterprise, they remained largely excluded from impacts and growth that expanded productivity, competitiveness and wealth.

According to her, only 23 per cent of women-owned businesses in Nigeria have access to formal credits compared to 34 per cent of women-owned businesses.

This, she said was a critical factor limiting women from pushing their businesses forward.

Eyong said that many women entrepreneurs operated in environments constrained by poor infrastructure, limited internet access and regulatory bottlenecks which called for actionable interventions.

She said that there was need to promote inclusion for women and strengthen the link between policy formulation, implementation and accountability.

Eyong said that in every stage of policy making, women needed to be involved and visible in order to breach the gap and ensure gender-responsive financial mechanisms from micro-credits to venture capital to empower women entrepreneurs.

She, however, commended Nigeria’s policy commitments especially the National Gender Policy 2021-2026, the National Policy on MSMEs and the National Development Plan 2021-2025 for making gender provisions.

Eyong noted that the policies recognised women’s economic empowerment as a cross-cutting enabler within the framework, a development she described as impressive.

President Bola Tinubu, represented by Chalya Shagaya, his Senior Special Assistant on Entrepreneurship Development, Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, commended the organisers for choosing a theme that reflected current national and economic realities.

Tinubu said that the conference’s focus reflected the realities of Nigerian entrepreneurs and highlighted the vital role of women-owned enterprises in job creation, innovation and developing local solutions with global relevance.

“Rising operational costs, from energy to logistics to finance, continue to constrain growth and reduce competitiveness.

“This administration understands these challenges and that is why under the Renewed Hope Agenda, enterprise development has been placed at the centre of Nigeria’s economic transformation strategy.

“This is with a deliberate focus on reducing the costs of doing business and creating an environment where SMEs can thrive and scale sustainably,” he said.

Tinubu said that the government, through the Presidential Power Initiative and Rural Electrification Agency’s renewable programmes, was expanding affordable, reliable electricity access to reduce costly alternatives and boost entrepreneurial productivity nationwide.

He said that his administration, through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and ongoing fiscal harmonisation reforms, was easing regulatory and tax burdens by simplifying compliance and eliminating multiple levies affecting SMEs.

According to him, this administration is creating a more enabling environment for SMEs to thrive and remains committed to helping entrepreneurs fully harness the vast potentials of Nigeria’s economy.

Tinubu urged entrepreneurs, investors and innovators to sustain the momentum in business by aligning with government directives aimed at translating economic policies into tangible prosperity for all Nigerians.

Aisha Babangida, Founder of the Women Enterprise Alliance (WenA), stressed that dismantling barriers to women’s participation in economic activities was essential for national growth.

Babangida said that initiatives such as the UN Women-led Affirmative Action Procurement Reform in Kaduna State, which reserves a share of public contracts for women-owned and women-led businesses, were timely, commendable and worthy of emulations.

“This financial initiative has the potential to unlock significant economic growth, not only for women, but for the nation as a whole.

“This progressive reform has already demonstrated that inclusive procurement policies can catalyse economic participation, foster equality and open doors for women entrepreneurs to access markets, secure funds and grow sustainably,” she said.

Babangida said that plans were underway by WenA to train and certify women entrepreneurs and companies, ensured they have all necessary documentation and compliance certificates to fully participate and benefit from inclusive procurement process.

These, she said, would build capacity, create awareness and unlock even greater opportunities for women-led businesses to thrive, contribute to economic growth and foster sustainable development in Nigeria.

NAN reports that the conference’s highlight was awarding of N5 million, N3 million and N2 million scale-up grants to three women-owned SMEs, alongside free business registrations for 50 women-owned businesses and other empowerment opportunities for women.

NAN