25m Nigerians to Benefit as Tinubu Expands Women’s Economic Programme

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expanded the Nigeria for Women Programme to reach 25 million beneficiaries nationwide, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to women’s economic inclusion and national development. The programme’s pilot phase in six states had already reached over one million beneficiaries, with the scale-up introducing the Happy Woman App Platform, a secure digital interface […]

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expanded the Nigeria for Women Programme to reach 25 million beneficiaries nationwide, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to women’s economic inclusion and national development.

The programme’s pilot phase in six states had already reached over one million beneficiaries, with the scale-up introducing the Happy Woman App Platform, a secure digital interface that connects women to finance, skills, markets, essential services, and government support.

Speaking on Thursday at the Presidential Launch of the Programme Scale-Up SU at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, noted that Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable growth without placing women at the centre of national planning.

The Nigerian for Women Project -SU is headed by Dr Hadiza Maina.

President Tinubu observed that while women are the authors of Nigeria’s development story, they remain essential to family stability, community resilience and national productivity.

“We have set a bold but achievable national ambition: to reach 25 million Nigerian women through this programme,” he stated, calling on the World Bank to strengthen its financing, technical support and innovation partnerships for the national scale-up.

Speaking earlier, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, described the scale-up as one of the most ambitious social and economic empowerment expansions in Nigeria’s history, positioning women as primary drivers of economic growth, democratic stability and social cohesion.

She said the initiative builds on a year of institutional reforms within the ministry aimed at fully activating its mandate, dismantling operational silos and strengthening coordinated national social protection systems for women, children and vulnerable populations.

According to the minister, the pilot phase validated the effectiveness of structured women affinity groups in grassroots economic transformation, with over 560,000 women organised into more than 26,000 groups across six states and collectively saving about N4.9 billion, in addition to receiving livelihood grants.

She added that the second phase, a $540 million programme co-financed by the World Bank alongside federal and state governments, is designed to reach at least five million women nationwide.

She formally appealed for additional financing from global partners to extend the programme to every local government area in the country.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, represented by the Deputy Governor of Katsina State, Faruk Lawal Jobe, reaffirmed the commitment of state governments to the nationwide expansion of the initiative.

He described the programme as a proven vehicle for strengthening household incomes, improving food security and deepening women’s participation in economic life, noting that governors view it as a strategic governance instrument rather than a peripheral welfare scheme.