Women Entrepreneurs’ Financing Gap Could Limit Nigeria’s Continental Trade Gains -Oduwole

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, says Nigeria risks missing key opportunities in Africa’s emerging continental market unless women-led businesses gain better access to finance.

Speaking in Abuja at a colloquium in honour of women’s role in industry, trade and investment with the theme “position Nigeria to lead intra-African trade”
Dr Oduwole said the financing gap facing female entrepreneurs remains one of the biggest barriers to expanding trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area.

She noted that women already play a major role across agriculture, services, manufacturing and logistics but often lack the capital required to grow their businesses.

According to the minister, female-founded companies received less than 10% of venture and growth capital deployed across Africa last year, while the financing gap for women-owned enterprises is estimated at more than $49bn.

Dr Oduwole said the AfCFTA links about 1.3 billion people with a combined economic output of around $3.4tn, creating one of the world’s largest free trade areas.

However, she stressed that access to capital will determine which businesses are able to expand and compete across borders.

She added that economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are aimed at improving capital flows and positioning Nigeria to take advantage of the continental market.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, John Enoh, said women-led enterprises dominate several sectors of Nigeria’s economy but remain under-represented in formal financing and export structures, noting that over 8 million women-led MSMEs in Nigeria generating over $15 billion in annual revenue.

“They account for over 40% of MSME employment, yet receive less than 20% of formal MSME financing. Over 90% operate informally. Fewer than 15% access structured digital training. Less than 5% have formal governance systems. This is not a capability problem. It is a structural design problem” he said.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Iman Suleiman Ibrahim, said addressing those structural barriers will be key to ensuring Nigeria fully benefits from Africa’s expanding trade system.

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack commended the Minister of Trade and Investment for providing this strategic platform that recognises the transformative contributions of women to economic development and regional integration, adding that across Africa, women continue to drive entrepreneurship, innovation, and enterprise development.

According to the Head of Service, the participation of women in national development has become indispensable to the realisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area and to Nigeria’s ambition of strengthening its leadership within Africa’s economic landscape.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji