The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to placing women at the center of Nigeria’s economic growth, peacebuilding and social stability, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said.
This, the President said, was the focus of the administration’s policy direction under the Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to align women’s empowerment with broader national development priorities.
According to him, women-focused policies under the agenda have expanded beyond social welfare to structured economic, environmental and security frameworks designed to integrate women more fully into national productivity.
President Tinubu noted that women account for 49.43 per cent of Nigeria’s population, making their participation critical to sustainable national growth and development.
He said the 2025 Federal Budget reflects this approach through increased allocations for women-led enterprises, agriculture, climate action and social protection, describing the investments as strategic rather than routine expenditure.
“The 2025 budget’s unprecedented allocation for women’s enterprise is not merely expenditure; it is strategic investment in our nation’s most valuable asset, generating returns through inclusive economic growth and sustainable development,” the President said.
He further said that the Renewed Hope Social Impact Programme for Women, Children and Families, launched in 2025, was designed to strengthen social and economic inclusion nationwide.
According to the President, one of the flagship initiatives under the programme is the Women Agro Value Expansion Programme (WAVE), being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to deepen women’s participation in agricultural value chains, enterprise development and digital skills.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said WAVE has trained over 50,000 women in digital and enterprise skills, approved ₦12 billion in credit facilities and expanded access to social protection schemes across several states.
She said the programme aims to boost food security, raise household incomes and strengthen rural economies by positioning women as key actors in agricultural productivity.
According to the Minister, the administration is also advancing women’s inclusion through initiatives such as PowerHer 774, which she said will provide clean and affordable energy access to three million women across the country’s 774 local government areas.
She added that the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up is targeting the empowerment of more than four million women through access to finance, skills development and community-level institutional support.
Speaking on progress under the programme, Sulaiman-Ibrahim said over 22,000 Women Affinity Groups have been formed, while more than 458,000 women have been supported with savings and access to financial services.
Beyond economic participation, the President said the Federal Government has strengthened women’s roles in peace and security governance through the launch of Nigeria’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2025–2030).
He said the plan, inaugurated in Abuja in December 2025, aligns with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and reinforces women’s participation in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, crisis response and post-conflict recovery.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who inaugurated the plan, said women’s economic participation improves education outcomes, healthcare access and community stability, which she described as essential foundations for long-term national development.
On energy and environmental policy, the Minister of Women Affairs said the transition to clean cooking energy is critical to protecting the health of women and girls, while addressing deforestation and environmental degradation.
According to her, the Ministry has inaugurated a National Steering Committee on Clean Cooking Energy for Women to support the adoption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and other clean cooking technologies among women-led households and enterprises.
She said the initiative targets the provision of clean cooking solutions to up to one million households, while positioning women as participants across the clean energy value chain.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, said women are increasingly being integrated into climate action through platforms such as the National Green Women Platform and land restoration efforts under the Great Green Wall initiative.
Also speaking on women’s economic participation, Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the Women in Mobility Programme, launched in partnership with the Credit Corporation of Nigeria, is designed to provide structured credit access for women in the mobility and transport sector.
She said the programme commenced with 1,000 beneficiaries in Abuja and is expected to scale nationwide by the first quarter of 2026.
International partners have acknowledged the approach. United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said Nigeria’s women-focused investment framework delivers measurable social and economic returns.
Similarly, World Trade Organisation Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said recent women-focused grants have enabled thousands of female entrepreneurs to scale operations and contribute to growth in non-oil exports.
Observers said the initiatives reflect a coordinated national strategy linking women’s economic participation, peacebuilding, clean energy access and environmental sustainability with Nigeria’s growth objectives, while urging timely budget releases to sustain implementation and impact.
