Nigeria Moves to Harness Women’s Entrepreneurial Strength to Drive AfCFTA Leadership

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

Nigeria has expressed its determination to take a leading role in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by building a resilient, productive, and competitive economy through the large-scale unlocking of the productive capacities of women-led businesses. 

The country aims to achieve this by promoting inclusion and expanding women’s access to finance, markets, and other economic incentives.

This position was revealed by ministers and key stakeholders during the Colloquium in Honour of Women’s Role in Industry, Trade and Investment themed “Positioning Nigeria to Lead Intra-African Trade,” which took place at the National Assembly Library Complex on Friday.

Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, stressed that conversations about Nigeria’s industrialisation and participation in intra-African trade must acknowledge the critical importance of harnessing and optimally utilising the enormous potential of women.

She explained that the AfCFTA has moved beyond being an idea to become an operational framework, describing it as a $3.4 trillion market serving 1.4 billion people and the world’s largest free trade zone by number of participating countries.

However, she emphasised that prosperity does not arise automatically from markets alone.

According to her, real economic growth depends on production, noting that trade agreements alone cannot industrialise nations without strong, competitive enterprises driving output.

Oduwole stated that Nigeria’s objective within AfCFTA was not merely to serve as a consumption market but to emerge as a production hub that manufactures, processes, innovates, and exports on a large scale. 

She observed that manufacturing currently contributes about 13–14 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to 20–25 per cent in more industrialised economies.

She pointed out that the difference between these figures represents lost opportunities in factories, exports, and employment, adding that closing the gap forms a central objective of the country’s new Nigeria Industrial Policy.

The minister further noted that women already play a dominant role across key sectors of Nigeria’s real economy.

She explained that women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are deeply embedded in value chains spanning retail, textiles and garments, agribusiness processing, nutrition systems, and light manufacturing.

According to her, Nigeria has more than eight million women-led MSMEs generating over $15 billion in annual revenue. 

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, stated that Nigeria’s economic transformation must be inclusive by fully integrating women who represent a vital pillar of the country’s productive economy into both national and continental trade frameworks.

She noted that women play a central role in Nigeria’s economy, producing a significant proportion of the country’s food supply, dominating many areas of informal commerce, and operating thousands of micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises nationwide.

In her goodwill message, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, explained that the colloquium was organised to highlight the crucial contributions of women to industry, trade, and investment while also advancing discussions on positioning Nigeria as a leading player in intra-African commerce.

In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Nura Abba Rimi, noted that African nations have already adopted progressive frameworks under AfCFTA, including the Protocol on Digital Trade and the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade.