Women Exporters: Nigeria’s Powerhouse for Non-Oil Boo, Economic Revival

By Ifeyinwa Ike

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council, says women entrepreneurs remain a key pillar in Nigeria’s efforts to grow non-oil exports and strengthen economic diversification.

Speaking at the Women Exporters Conference in Abuja, the Council’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nonye Ayeni, noted that women are deeply embedded in Nigeria’s small and medium enterprise ecosystem, with active participation in agriculture, food processing, textiles, and services.

Ayeni highlighted 2025’s record non-oil exports: $6.1 billion in value and 8.02 million metric tonnes in volume, the highest since NEPC’s establishment.

“Nigeria exported 281 products to 210 countries, including 36 African nations,”she noted, crediting President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, ministerial policies, and exporter efforts, particularly SMEs 96 percent of businesses led by women in 40 percent of cases.

She explained that with improved access to training, certification, and international markets, more women-owned businesses can transition from local operations to competitive global exporters.

Stakeholders at the event said with stronger access to finance, supportive policies, and digital trade tools, women exporters could significantly boost Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings, create jobs, and drive grassroots wealth creation across the country.

They added that empowering women in export trade remains central to Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda.

Theme of the conference is “Strengthening Women-led Businesses for Resilience, Recovery and Inclusive Economic Growth” a “working platform” with help desks for export readiness, finance, standards, and markets.

“Women are dynamite, invest in them for generational wealth,” she rallied.