An exclusive reception of ministers, diplomats, business executives, development partners and civil society leaders in Abuja became a rallying call for greater investment in women’s political and economic leadership across Africa
By Bunmi Yekini
Africa’s ambition to become a global economic and innovation powerhouse will remain out of reach unless governments and institutions remove barriers preventing women from leading politics, business and economic transformation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a reception themed Women Leading Africa’s Next Chapter in Abuja, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa, said Africa’s greatest untapped development resource was neither its minerals nor its youthful population, but millions of women whose leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship remain underutilised.
“Our greatest opportunity is our people,” Eziakonwa told an audience of ministers, diplomats, business executives, development partners and women leaders from across Nigeria.
“The question is no longer whether women should participate in Africa’s development, they already do. The more important question is whether Africa is creating the conditions that allow women to lead transformation at the scale our future demands.”
Her remarks come as several African countries seek to accelerate implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), increase women’s participation in governance and expand investment in innovation-led economic growth.
The reception, convened by the UNDP Nigeria Country Office and co-hosted by Nigeria’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Women Affairs, followed the HerAfCFTA Regional Conference, where policymakers examined how intra-African trade could create new opportunities for women entrepreneurs and businesses.
Eziakonwa argued that increasing the number of women in leadership positions was not simply a question of gender equity but one of economic necessity.
“Countries that fail to unlock the full potential of all their people inevitably limit the pace of their own transformation,” she said.
Her comments also come amid ongoing conversations in Nigeria over proposals to improve women’s representation in elected offices, where women remain significantly underrepresented despite making up nearly half of the country’s population.
Rather than focusing solely on representation, she said governments must create systems that enable women to influence economic policy, investment decisions, technological innovation, conflict resolution and institutional reforms.
“Representation matters because it strengthens democracy, broadens perspectives and improves decision-making,” she said. “But representation remains only the beginning.”
Investing beyond quotas
The UNDP says achieving inclusive leadership requires investments that extend beyond political appointments.
According to Eziakonwa, leadership flourishes when institutions provide equal access to education, finance, technology, markets and legal protections.
She highlighted the African Facility for Women in Political Leadership, launched jointly by the UNDP, the African Union Commission and the African Women Leaders Network, describing it as a continental effort to strengthen women’s political participation.
Its flagship initiative, the Africa Academy for Women in Political Leadership, will welcome its inaugural cohort in Kigali within weeks after attracting more than 1,300 applications from women across 41 African countries, including Nigeria.
“The response sends a powerful message,” she said. “Africa does not lack women ready to lead.”
Innovation as Africa’s growth engine
The UNDP also linked women’s leadership to broader efforts to reposition Africa’s economy around innovation and entrepreneurship.
Eziakonwa cited the agency’s Timbuktoo initiative, which seeks to build university innovation hubs and strengthen technology ecosystems capable of producing globally competitive African businesses.
She said Africa’s future competitiveness would depend on exporting technology, ideas and innovation rather than relying primarily on raw materials.
“These are not separate ambitions,” she said.
“They are different expressions of the same vision, an Africa that creates more value than it exports in raw materials, competes through innovation rather than low costs, mobilises its own capital alongside international investment, and increasingly exports ideas, technology, enterprise and talent.”
UNDP Nigeria Resident Representative Elsie Attafuah said Nigeria had already begun implementing elements of that strategy through innovation hubs established in Lagos and Keffi, with another manufacturing technology hub scheduled for launch in Abia State.
She described the reception as an opportunity to transform networking among women leaders into a permanent platform capable of influencing national development priorities.
“The objective is not only to celebrate leadership but to ask ourselves how we transform the extraordinary leadership represented in this room into an enduring force for Nigeria’s future,” Attafuah said.
She said stronger partnerships among government, business, academia and civil society would be essential for accelerating inclusive growth.
Nigeria seeks stronger women’s leadership
Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, framed women’s inclusion as an economic strategy rather than a social programme.
She said closing gender gaps could significantly expand Nigeria’s economy, citing World Bank estimates that greater economic participation by women could add approximately $24 billion to national output.
“Closing the gender gap is not an act of charity,” she said. “It is a strategic economic necessity.”
She highlighted the federal government’s Nigeria for Women Scale-Up programme, describing it as one of Africa’s largest investments focused on women’s economic empowerment.
The minister also called for stronger mentorship structures to prepare younger women for leadership positions in politics, public service and business.
“We must intentionally cultivate the next generation,” she said.
States showcase women’s development agenda
The event also provided an opportunity for state leaders to highlight programmes aimed at improving women’s welfare.
Kwara State First Lady Olufolake AbdulRazaq outlined initiatives supporting women through grants, healthcare, education, technology and social investment while pointing to what she described as increasing female representation within the state’s government.
She also called for deeper collaboration between state governments and development agencies including the UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women.
Imo State First Lady Chioma Uzodimma, who chairs the Progressive Governors’ Spouses Forum, described Eziakonwa as an example of Nigerian women achieving global leadership through integrity and public service.
She said celebrating accomplished women should inspire younger generations to aspire to positions of influence.
Beyond celebration
Throughout the evening, speakers repeatedly returned to a common message that Africa’s future would depend less on individual achievements than on building institutions capable of enabling more women to lead.
For Eziakonwa, who is preparing to assume new responsibilities within the United Nations after serving as UNDP Regional Director for Africa, the challenge extends beyond creating opportunities for exceptional women.
Instead, she said, success would come when women occupying leadership positions became commonplace rather than extraordinary.
“The true measure of progress,” she concluded, “will not be how many remarkable women we can name, but whether remarkable women become entirely unremarkable because leadership has become genuinely inclusive.”
She urged governments, businesses, development partners and civil society to move beyond celebrating women’s accomplishments and instead build partnerships capable of expanding opportunities for future generations.
“The next chapter of Africa’s development will not be written by chance,” she said. “It will be written by leaders, and many of them will be women.”