Nigeria’s push to strengthen its position in global trade may increasingly rely on women entrepreneurs, according to the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Nonye Ayeni.
She made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during the Women Exporters Conference, where she highlighted that despite Nigeria’s large population and resource base, the country still holds a very small share of global exports.
Ayeni stressed that non-oil exports are essential for long-term and inclusive economic growth, especially given Nigeria’s historical dependence on oil revenue. She noted that while global merchandise exports reached about $24.5 trillion in 2024, Africa accounted for only 3.5 percent, with Nigeria contributing just 0.26 percent.
According to her, this gap represents untapped opportunity for expansion, especially if Nigeria improves its participation in international trade. She added that even modest improvements could significantly boost the economy and support businesses.
She revealed that Nigeria achieved its strongest non-oil export performance in 2025, recording $6.1 billion in value and 8.02 million metric tonnes in volume, describing it as the highest in the country’s history.
Ayeni attributed the progress to government policy direction, especially under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, as well as the efforts of exporters and small and medium enterprises.
She explained that SMEs make up about 96 percent of businesses in Nigeria, with women representing around 40 percent of that sector, playing a vital role in production, value creation, and export activities.
She further noted that inclusive economic growth is not achievable without women’s participation, especially in areas such as job creation, diversification, and trade expansion.
Ayeni also outlined several initiatives aimed at supporting women exporters, including export desks across all states and capacity-building programmes that trained thousands of participants in areas such as packaging, documentation, and quality standards.
She added that in 2025 alone, over 97,000 people benefited from NEPC training programmes, while 210 international certifications were provided to exporters, about half of which went to women.
She also highlighted partnerships such as the SheTrades Nigeria Hub, which has supported thousands of women, and a global funding programme that selected Nigerian women for grants and mentorship to scale their businesses internationally.
Despite these achievements, she acknowledged that Nigeria still has significant work to do to fully unlock the potential of women in export-led growth.
She described the conference as a practical platform aimed at improving export readiness, access to finance, digital trade, and market opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
Other speakers at the event, including the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, and the Special Adviser to the President on Export Expansion, Aliyu Sheriff, also emphasised that empowering women-led businesses is essential for national economic development and global competitiveness.
They called for stronger collaboration between government, private sector actors, and development partners to remove barriers such as limited financing, infrastructure gaps, and compliance challenges that hinder women’s participation in international trade.
The conference brought together stakeholders to discuss strategies for strengthening women-led businesses and boosting Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.
