The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Hon. Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, declared the 2026 edition of W.O.M.A.N. – Women in Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Nutrition – officially open on 10 September at the Admiralty Event Centre, Nigerian Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos, in a signal of the highest level of government commitment to the economic empowerment of women-led businesses in Nigeria.
Organised by Alitheia Capital, Africa’s pioneering gender-lens private equity firm, the third edition of the conference brought together over three hundred screened women-led businesses in manufacturing, agribusiness and nutrition alongside investors, financial institutions, development agencies and government partners – including SMEDAN, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), and the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment (CCTI) – for two days of structured dialogue, expert masterclasses and hands-on skills development.
Governor Sanwo-Olu’s opening address placed the sectors at the centre of Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda. ‘These are not peripheral sectors. They are sectors that create jobs, strengthen food security, deepen local value chains, support industrialization and build the productive capacity of our people. And increasingly, women are at the centre of that transformation,’ he said. He called on all stakeholders to move beyond rhetoric to structural change: ‘Inclusive economic growth cannot be achieved when a significant proportion of our productive population is excluded from access to opportunity, finance, infrastructure, knowledge and markets.’
The Governor was direct on the shared nature of that responsibility. ‘Closing the gap must be a collective responsibility. Government has a role. Financial institutions have a role. Private equity and venture capital have a role. Development partners have a role. And the entrepreneurs themselves must continue to invest in good governance, capacity, transparency and the systems required to build sustainable enterprises.’
The Governor highlighted LSETF as a key instrument for MSME finance, the Eko Hub Model for shared infrastructure and sector-focused business ecosystems, and the Lagos Fresh Food Hub as a driver of agricultural value chain development. ‘Capital is important,’ he noted, ‘but capital must be supported by expertise, sound governance, operational efficiency, access to markets and the capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing global economy.’
Delivering the keynote address on ‘From Survival to Scale: Building Investment-Ready Women-Led Enterprises in Nigeria’s Real Economy’, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, Co-Founder of WIMBIZ and Founder and CEO of DO.II Designs Limited provided a framework that aligned directly with the Governor’s call: ‘Financial discipline creates business legibility, business legibility creates credibility, and credibility creates access to capital and opportunities for growth.’
Day one panels examined the evolving policy, regulatory and infrastructure environment for women-led businesses, the financing landscape, and how green manufacturing creates resilience against economic volatility. Two masterclasses addressed the technical foundations: the Investment Readiness Bootcamp, facilitated by Olufemi Oludare, covered financial statements, unit economics, governance and capital structuring; the Green Investment Readiness Bootcamp, led by Abbie Fasasi, equipped founders to align energy efficiency with both cost reduction and access to concessional capital.
On Day 2, Hon. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, delivered a goodwill message that challenged participants to translate the two days into measurable action. Drawing on her own career in leadership positions in multinational corporations in Africa before entering public service, she connected personal experience to systemic change. ‘Women do not need to be rescued. Women need access. Access to capital. Access to markets. Access to networks. Access to technology. Access to opportunity.’ She noted that Lagos had ranked No. 1 among Nigeria’s 36 states in the 2026 PEBEC Subnational Ease of Doing Business assessment, and detailed government programmes – including LASMECO for cooperative-based SME finance and LASERP for export readiness – as active pathways for conference participants. ‘Investing in women-led enterprises is not charity. It is smart economics.’
A hands-on AI adoption programme in partnership with Google Hustle Academy covered Making Sense of AI, Practical AI for Your Business, and Practical AI for Marketing on Day 2 – with the Commissioner commending the initiative as part of a broader push to ensure Nigerian entrepreneurs are not left behind in the global technological transformation.
‘Honestly, it was so impactful. I learnt a lot that will help me take Nature Sense to the next level,’ said Funmilayo Ogunsanya, Co-Founder of Nature Sense. ‘I am leaving more convinced than ever that we are ready for what comes next.’
Alitheia Capital will track cohort progress from W.O.M.A.N. 2026 participants over the coming year, measuring performance against capital access, revenue expansion, and job creation- and share findings with institutional partners to inform the design of more effective financing instruments.
‘Over three hundred women-led businesses filled this room this week – each one already screened, revenue-generating and growth-ready. Most have never accessed formal capital. That is not a problem of ambition. It is a problem of design,’ said Tokunboh Ishmael, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Alitheia Capital. ‘And as the Governor said, closing that gap is a collective responsibility – one that government, financial institutions, private equity and the entrepreneurs themselves must all answer.’
‘Nearly twenty years ago, we founded this firm on a single conviction: that backing women-led businesses in Africa was not charity – it was one of the most compelling investment opportunities on the continent,’ said Jumoke Akinwunmi, Co-Founder of Alitheia Capital. ‘Today, with $250 million in assets under management and almost three hundred businesses in this room – all screened, all growth-ready – the evidence is undeniable. The question is no longer whether this market exists. The question is how quickly capital catches up with it.’
W.O.M.A.N. 2026 was supported by institutional partners including FCMB SheVentures, Airtel, StarSight, RenCom, LATC, Bank of Industry, FCDO Manufacturing Africa, Google Hustle Academy, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), SMEDAN, and the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment (CCTI).
W.O.M.A.N. – Women in Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Nutrition – is Alitheia Capital’s annual convening programme for high-potential women-led businesses. Now in its third year, it combines a curated two-day event with a twelve-month structured follow-up programme to track participant progress across capital access, revenue growth, and job creation.
About Alitheia Capital
Alitheia Capital is a Lagos-based impact investing private equity firm with over $250 million in assets under management. Through its flagship gender-lens fund, Alitheia IDF – Africa’s first dedicated gender-lens private equity fund – and the uMunthu I and II Fund, the firm invests in growth-stage small and medium enterprises across Africa, with a deliberate focus on women-led and gender-diverse businesses. Alitheia Capital operates on the thesis that gender-smart investing produces structural alpha: superior financial returns alongside measurable social and economic outcomes.