For many Nigerian women, running a small business is often the first step towards economic independence. But moving from producing goods for the local market to selling competitively across foreign markets requires access to finance, digital skills, certification, market information and reliable business networks, COLLINS
OLAYINKA reports.

Women have long played a significant role in Nigeria’s economy, particularly in agriculture, food processing, retail, manufacturing, services and informal cross-border trade. Yet their participation in formal international trade remains below its potential due to limited access to finance, market information, digital tools, business networks, and the certifications required to sell in foreign markets.

On the formidable challenges confronting women entrepreneurs, the World Bank noted that women-owned businesses face persistent financing and market-access constraints. In contrast, women lead only about one in five exporting firms globally.

These constraints are particularly important for Nigeria as the country seeks to reduce its dependence on crude oil and increase non-oil export earnings.

Propelling women entrepreneurs onto the global stage is a major focus of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). The Council, which is the government’s apex agency for export promotion and diversification, has made women’s participation in export trade one of its areas of intervention.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, expressed the willingness of the Council to partner with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund programme to empower 146 women-led businesses with a grant ranging from five thousand to thirty thousand dollars for their businesses.

Speaking at the launch of the export procedure handbook in Abuja recently, she said the Council strengthened the ‘SheTrades Nigeria Hub’ in collaboration with the ITC by providing training, market access opportunities, and connections to international buyers for thousands of women exporters.

“It is worthy of note that since its inception, over 5,000 women-led businesses have joined the Hub community, benefiting from tailored capacity building and coaching. This collaboration has helped women become export-ready, participate in global fairs, and integrate digital tools into their businesses,” she added.

Indeed, its Women in Export programme provides training, market information, advisory services, certification support, buyer connections, trade-fair opportunities and assistance in accessing finance.

The council stated that it has supported more than 2,000 women in exports.
The emphasis on women is not new. NEPC established its Women in Export Development Programme in 2017 and subsequently introduced women-focused support through its regional and state offices.

In 2024, the Council said about 4,000 of the 29,000 exporters it had registered since 2016 were women-led businesses, while more than 7,800 women entrepreneurs had received support to strengthen their export operations through its collaboration with the International Trade Centre.

Finance remains a major obstacle. A recent World Bank initiative on inclusive finance for Nigerian MSMEs identified women-led enterprises as disproportionately affected by limited access to formal credit. Thus, the $500 million programme is expected to expand financing to 250,000 MSMEs, including at least 150,000 women-led businesses.

Certification is another major hurdle because products entering international markets must meet the safety, quality, packaging and regulatory requirements of importing countries.

To scale these hurdles, the NEPC is supporting women-owned enterprises to obtain certifications such as HACCP, FDA, Halal, and ISO standards. In an earlier certification programme, the Council reported that 80 per cent of beneficiaries were women-owned businesses.

The economic case for expanding women’s participation in trade is significant.

Another World Bank study shows that exporting firms employ a higher proportion of women than non-exporting firms. Trade can increase women’s access to jobs, skills, wages, and business opportunities.

This comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s recent growth in non-oil exports. NEPC reported that the country recorded $6.1 billion in non-oil export receipts in 2025, an 11.5 per cent increase over the $5.46 billion recorded in 2024. The Council has positioned increased participation of MSMEs, including women-led enterprises, as part of the broader effort to expand Nigeria’s export base.

Against this background, NEPC’s current women-focused interventions include the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, skills acquisition, certification, mentorship, agricultural clusters, and international trade missions, which aim to move Nigerian women from predominantly small-scale and domestic businesses into formal value chains and international markets.

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is seeking to close some of these gaps through programmes designed to increase women’s participation in non-oil exports and connect women-led businesses with international markets.

The fund is a $50 million initiative launched in February 2024 by World Trade Organisation Director-General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.

Co-coordinated by the WTO and the International Trade Centre, the fund aims to help women-led businesses in developing countries overcome financing and digital barriers to international trade.

NEPC was selected as the only African Business Support Organisation to implement the programme after competing with organisations worldwide. Out of 610 applications globally, the Council emerged as the successful African organisation.

The Nigerian programme attracted more than 68,000 applications from women-led businesses across the six geopolitical zones. From the pool, 146 women-led micro, small and medium enterprises were selected for grant support under the first phase.

The scale of the response reflects both the size of Nigeria’s women-owned enterprise sector and the demand for interventions that help businesses move beyond survival to sustainable growth.

The WEIDE programme provides two categories of grants. The Discovery Grant offers $5,000 to micro and small women-led businesses with export potential and annual revenues between $5,000 and $25,000. The Booster Grant provides $30,000 to exporting or export-ready women-led businesses with annual revenues between $25,000 and $150,000.

The funding supports areas such as digital infrastructure, market entry, product innovation, certification, logistics, and working capital linked to export expansion.

The NEPC boss also assured beneficiaries of the $50 million WEIDE Fund that the first tranche of grants under the programme will be disbursed after capacity-building and compliance processes are completed.

Access to money, however, is only one component of the programme. Beneficiaries must undergo digital and financial training, receive individual coaching, and participate in business clinics. They also receive support in areas such as e-commerce, pricing, logistics, and customer service.

The programme also gives beneficiaries opportunities to build relationships with e-commerce platforms and digital service providers, potentially giving women-owned businesses access to international customers and new distribution channels.

Indeed, the Council’s intervention in women’s empowerment extends beyond the WEIDE Fund.

At its Export Skills Acquisition Centre in Apapa, Lagos, NEPC is training young people and women in garment and bag production. The centre has been restructured and equipped to support large-scale production for domestic and African markets.

Under a public-private partnership, Lelook Nigeria Limited manages the centre and targets training at least 1,000 young people and women annually.

The objective goes beyond skills acquisition. By combining production training with an export orientation, the programme aims to create opportunities for women to participate in manufacturing, supply chains, and international commerce.

This approach matters because skills without market access often produce limited economic outcomes. A woman may know how to make garments or bags but still struggle to turn the skill into a sustainable enterprise if she lacks equipment, finance, buyers and knowledge of export procedures.

The Council said more than 305 exporters have so far received international certifications covering areas such as FDA, HACCP and Halal, while another 567 exporters are undergoing certification.

For women involved in food processing, cosmetics, agriculture and other consumer-oriented businesses, meeting international standards can determine whether a product remains confined to the domestic market or becomes eligible for export.

Market access is another area where the Council’s interventions could create opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

NEPC has facilitated the participation of Nigerian businesses in international trade fairs and business-to-business engagements in Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, China and Algeria.

At the 2025 Intra-African Trade Fair in Algiers, Algeria, the Council, in collaboration with the Bank of Industry, NEXIM Bank and SMEDAN, supported the participation of 75 Nigerian SMEs. Nigerian businesses negotiated prospective export deals estimated at $110 million across agro-processed products, cosmetics, shea butter, solid minerals, arts and crafts, textiles and apparel.