The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan SuleimanIbrahim, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to placing women at the centre of Nigeria’s economic transformation, declaring that empowering women is critical to achieving inclusive growth and national prosperity.

Speaking at the grand finale of the “Give to Gain” Summit marking the 2026 International Women’s Month in Abuja, the minister said women’s advancement is no longer a social obligation, but a strategic imperative for development.

She aligned the summit’s theme with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that women, children and vulnerable groups are being repositioned as “architects of national development.”

According to her, Nigeria’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy depends significantly on closing gender gaps in access to finance, land and formal economic structures.

She cited data showing that women make up over 50 per cent of the population and contribute more than 40 per cent of the agricultural workforce, yet remain largely excluded from economic opportunities.

“Closing this gap is not charity; it is strategy,” she said, adding that over 80 per cent of women-owned businesses operate in the informal sector without access to credit or structured markets.

The minister highlighted the Renewed Hope Social Impact Interventions (RHSII 774), a nationwide programme designed to deliver economic empowerment, skills training, agricultural support, clean energy access and social protection to women across all 774 local government areas.