The Presidency on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to placing women at the centre of Nigeria’s economic transformation, declaring that the era of treating women merely as beneficiaries of government interventions must give way to one that empowers them as wealth creators, investors and business owners.

To advance that agenda, the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), under the Office of the Vice President, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, will host the She’sIncluded 2026 Summit, a high-level platform designed to accelerate women’s economic empowerment, deepen financial inclusion and unlock inclusive national growth.

The two-day summit, scheduled for August 19 and 20, 2026, at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, will bring together senior government officials, regulators, development partners, financial institutions, private sector leaders and international stakeholders to develop practical strategies for expanding economic opportunities for Nigerian women.

Speaking during a courtesy visit by the summit organisers, the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, described the return of the initiative for a second consecutive year as proof of its growing impact and relevance.

“The fact that this is going into a second edition shows there was impact. It demonstrates continuity and confirms that we are on the right track,” she said.

The minister applauded the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion and the Special Assistant to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion for driving the initiative, noting that meaningful gender inclusion can only be achieved when both men and women collectively champion the cause.

She said President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda recognises women’s economic empowerment as a strategic imperative for national development, stressing that no nation can attain its full potential while leaving half of its population behind.

According to her, the administration is deliberately shifting from social interventions that create dependency to policies that enable women to build businesses, own productive assets and participate meaningfully across critical sectors of the economy.

“For too long, women have largely been beneficiaries of intervention programmes. What we want now is to economically empower them so they become co-creators of prosperity. Women should own businesses, build capital ventures and participate across every segment of the value chain,” she stated.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim explained that government programmes are increasingly being designed to ensure women not only access finance but also become providers of financial services, investors and employers of labour.

She identified Nigeria’s energy sector as one of the untapped frontiers for women’s economic participation, citing the Ministry’s Women in the Natural Gas and Sustainable Energy (WINGS) programme as an initiative aimed at tackling energy poverty while creating business opportunities through clean cooking technologies and gas distribution.

“This is a sector that has traditionally been dominated by men, yet it offers enormous opportunities for women. We want women to become fabricators of gas cylinders, owners of gas skids and carousels, and active participants across the energy value chain as Nigeria deepens domestic gas utilisation,” she said.

The minister described the She’sIncluded platform as a strategic vehicle for integrating financial inclusion with broader social and economic empowerment initiatives, saying stronger collaboration among government agencies, financial institutions, development partners and the private sector would eliminate duplication and improve programme delivery.

She also called for the adoption of a harmonised biometric beneficiary management system to track participants across government empowerment programmes and prevent abuse.

“We do not want career beneficiaries. People can benefit from different programmes as they advance, but not continue to receive the same interventions repeatedly. A unified biometric system will improve transparency, accountability and the overall effectiveness of government empowerment initiatives,” she added.

Expressing confidence in the forthcoming summit, the minister disclosed that Vice President Kashim Shettima had already been briefed on the initiative and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting its objectives.

Earlier, the Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion and Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), Dr. Nurudeen Zauro, said the summit marks a decisive transition from policy conversations to practical implementation.

He said the inaugural edition in 2025 culminated in the adoption of the Aso Accord, which committed stakeholders to advancing women’s economic and financial inclusion through coordinated action, adding that the 2026 edition would focus on translating those commitments into measurable results.

According to Zauro, the summit is designed to mobilise investments, strengthen partnerships and create sustainable pathways for women to access finance, entrepreneurship, technology, innovation and productive employment.

Held under the theme, “Designing for Delivery: Financing. Systems. Scale.”, the summit will feature deliberations across nine transformational pillars, with participants expected to co-create practical solutions that expand financial inclusion, strengthen enterprise development, improve access to capital and build systems that support long-term economic empowerment for women.

He noted that, unlike previous engagements, every recommendation emerging from the summit would be assigned clear ownership, implementation timelines and measurable performance indicators to guarantee accountability and effective implementation.

Zauro said the initiative aligns with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and supports the administration’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030, recognising women’s participation as a critical driver of productivity, inclusive growth and sustainable national prosperity.

He added that the summit would deepen collaboration among government institutions, regulators, financial institutions, development partners and the private sector, while mobilising scalable investments capable of transforming the economic fortunes of millions of Nigerian women.