Women-led businesses have been empowered at the third Women in Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Nutrition(W.O.M.A.N.), Alitheia Capital’s yearly conference in Lagos.
The event was attended by over 300 women entrepreneurs -founders of manufacturing companies, agribusinesses and nutrition enterprises.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, challenged the participants to turn potential into progressive capital partnerships.
‘Let the conversations lead to investments. Let the connections lead to partnerships. Let the training lead to stronger businesses. And let the ideas generated here lead to enterprises that create jobs and transform communities. That, ultimately, is how conferences such as this must be measured: not merely by the quality of the conversations, but by the quality of the outcomes they produce,’ Ms. Olusanya said.
In the keynote address, Co-founder of WIMBIZ, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, said: ‘Financial discipline creates business legibility, business legibility creates credibility, and credibility creates access to capital and opportunitiesfor growth.
Mrs Ighodalo, also foundr/CEO, CEO of DO.II Designs Limited, spoke on the theme: ‘Building Investment-Ready Women-Led Enterprises in Nigeria’s Real Economy’.
Day one panel discussions examined the policy and regulatory environment, the financing landscape, and how green manufacturingdrives operational resilience.
Two parallel masterclasses provided the technical grounding: 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, addressed energy efficiency as both a cost management strategy and a pathway to impact-focused capital.
Co-Founder of Alitheia Capital, Mrs. Jumoke Akinwunmi, said: ‘Alitheia means truth. When we founded this firm, standing for what is true and standing for women entrepreneurs – were the same principle. What today showed us is that the theory is not the problem.The businesses are ready. The question is whether the ecosystem around them is ready to respond.’
Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Hon. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, said: ‘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. And, critically, access to one another. That is what this W.O.M.A.N. Programmerepresents.’
‘Honestly, it was so impactful. I learnt a lot that will help me take Nature Sense to the next level,’ said FunmilayoOgunsanya, Co-Founder of Nature Sense. ‘ I am leaving more convinced than ever that we are ready for what comes next.’
Alitheia Capital will follow up with all W.O.M.A.N. 2026 participants throughout the year, tracking progress on capital access, revenue growth, and job creation.
‘Nearly 20 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 Tokunboh Ishmael, Managing Partner and 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 ishow quickly capital catches up with it.’
‘Alitheia IDF is Africa’s first dedicated gender-lens private equity fund. After more than a decade of investing, our portfolio keeps proving the same thing: when you design capital for women-led businesses, the returns follow. When women-led businesses scale, local economies scale. That is not a social argument. It is a financial one.’
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).