The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to empowering women as key drivers of the nation’s creative economy, with a focus on expanding access to finance, skills development and leadership opportunities.
The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, made this known on Thursday in Lagos in a keynote delivered at the International Women’s Day Conference organised by Access Bank Plc.
The event, which attracted over 5,000 participants both physically and virtually, was attended by stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
Musawa, represented by the Director-General of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), Mrs Aisha Adamu, said women were increasingly taking the lead in building businesses, driving innovation and shaping society.
She identified culture, capital and courage as critical factors influencing women’s participation in national development, noting that culture remained both a source of identity and an economic asset.
“Across Nigeria, women have always been the invisible architects of our culture, yet their contributions have been underrepresented and undervalued,” she said.
The minister said the ministry was repositioning culture as a structured economic sector through creative hubs, skills development and enterprise support programmes targeting women in film, fashion, digital media and tourism.
On financing, Musawa noted that women-owned businesses account for about 40 per cent of small and medium enterprises but continue to face significant funding gaps.
“Too many ideas remain small not because they lack potential, but because they lack access to capital,” she said.
She added that the government was working to unlock targeted funding for women, strengthen market access and improve data systems to support women entrepreneurs, while also promoting their inclusion in leadership and policy-making processes.
Earlier, the Chairman of Access Bank Plc, Mrs Ifeyinwa Osime, called for deliberate and strategic investment in women as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth.
Osime said empowering women should be seen as a strategic economic decision rather than charity.
“When we speak of giving, it is about expanding access to finance, markets, knowledge and platforms that enable women to build sustainable businesses,” she said.
She noted that women own about 39 per cent of businesses in Nigeria and drive nearly 40 per cent of new enterprises, while small and medium enterprises contribute about 48 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and over 80 per cent of employment.
She, however, decried the persistent financing gap facing women, describing it as a major constraint on productivity and economic growth.
“No economy can optimise its potential while underinvesting in half of its population,” she said.
Osime highlighted the bank’s interventions through its W Initiative and Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton programme, which provides financing, training and healthcare support to thousands of women.
Also, former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, stressed the need to prioritise women’s inclusion in development processes.
Ezekwesili said societies transform when critical issues such as women’s inclusion are deliberately prioritised.
“There is no other way societies have transformed than when people who care make an issue a priority,” she said.
She noted that removing structural barriers limiting women’s participation would unlock significant economic potential, adding that agricultural output could increase by up to 30 per cent if women had equal access to inputs as men.
Ezekwesili said limited access to finance had confined many women to low-productivity enterprises and commended Access Bank for supporting women through financing, training, technology and market access.
She described such interventions as critical to scaling women-led businesses and urged women to invest in knowledge, build partnerships and actively seek financing opportunities.
During a one-on-one session, she also emphasised the need to uphold shared values for national and continental growth, noting that “values are our internal currencies.”
In the same vein, Mrs Nene Kunle-Ogunlusi, Group Head, Women Banking, Access Bank, said the bank remained committed to supporting women across all segments.
She said the bank recently organised a special Women’s Day programme for market women in Oyingbo, Lagos, offering free health checks, beauty services and financial education.
