Over 300 women-led enterprises convened in Lagos on 10 and 11 September, for the third edition of the W.O.M.A.N. (Women in Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Nutrition) conference. Hosted by private equity firm Alitheia Capital, the gathering highlighted a fundamental development imperative: women entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa represent a viable, growth-oriented market segment and driver of sustainable economic expansion rather than a traditional social intervention target. The conference brought together founders from across Nigeria’s manufacturing, agribusiness and nutrition sectors alongside investors, financial institutions, policymakers and development partners.
Opening the conference on behalf of Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, Hon. Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, framed the target sectors within Nigeria’s broader macroeconomic 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.”
By targeting key real-economy sectors – manufacturing, agribusiness, and nutrition – the platform highlights the critical role of women-led small and growing businesses in advancing food security, structural transformation, and employment generation.
Addressing the core challenge of enterprise growth, keynote speaker Mrs. Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, Co-Founder of WIMBIZ and Founder and CEO of DO.II Designs Limited delivered an address titled ‘From Survival to Scale: Building Investment-Ready Women-Led Enterprises in Nigeria’s Real Economy’. She outlined the importance of making women-led businesses visible to investors and the sequential link between governance, transparency, and financial access: “Financial discipline creates business legibility, business legibility creates credibility, and credibility creates access to capital and opportunities for growth,” she said.
Day one panel discussions examined the regulatory and infrastructure environment, the financing landscape for small and growing businesses, and the role of green manufacturing in building resilience against economic volatility. Two parallel masterclasses provided the technical foundation: the Investment Readiness Bootcamp, facilitated by Olufemi Oludare, covered the financial statements, unit economics and governance structures that capital providers look for; the Green Investment Readiness Bootcamp, led by Abbie Fasasi, showed founders how transitioning to clean energy reduces operating costs and opens access to concessional, impact-focused capital.
Closing Day 1, Mrs. Jumoke Akinwunmi, Co-Founder of Alitheia Capital, drew a direct line from the firm’s founding principles to the evidence in the room. “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.”
Day two brought a hands-on AI adoption programme in partnership with Google Hustle Academy, covering Making Sense of AI, Practical AI for Your Business, and Practical AI for Marketing. Giving a goodwill message, Hon. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, offered the sharpest summary of what the two days proved. “Investing in women-led enterprises is not charity. It is smart economics.” Lagos, she noted, has ranked No. 1 among Nigeria’s 36 states in the 2026 PEBEC Subnational Ease of Doing Business assessment, an enabling environment in which women-led businesses are well-positioned to grow.
In participant feedback, Funmilayo Ogunsanya, Co-Founder of Nature Sense, noted that the technical insights gained provided clear operational strategies for business scaling, saying: “Honestly, it was so impactful. I learnt a lot that will help me take Nature Sense to the next level,” I am leaving more convinced than ever that we are ready for what comes next.”
“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,” stated 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.”
“Alitheia IDF is Africa’s first dedicated gender-lens private equity fund. After more than a decade of investing across sub-Saharan Africa, with over $250 million in assets under management, 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.”
Alitheia Capital will track cohort progress from W.O.M.A.N. 2026 participants over the coming year, measuring performance against key development indicators including capital deployment, revenue expansion, and job creation.
W.O.M.A.N. 2026 was delivered with support from a coalition of public, private, and development institutions 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).