Vice President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria’s ambition to build a one trillion dollar economy cannot be achieved without the full participation of women, as the federal government unveils four strategic platforms to bridge the gender gap in financial inclusion drive.
He stated this during the Second National Gender Inclusion Conference tagged “SheIsIncluded 2026” held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
The conference organised by the Presidential Committee on Economic Inclusion in the Office of the Vice President, with the theme, “Designing for Delivery: From Financial Inclusion to Economic Transformation for the Nigerian Woman.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima represented by the Special Adviser to the President on General Duties Aliyu Modibbo Umar says the one trillion dollar Nigeria’s economic ambition will remain out of reach if women continue to face structural barriers to finance, markets, skills and other opportunities.
The SheIsIncluded initiative must move beyond an annual campaign and become an enduring national delivery framework for women’s economic prosperity, as the ministry of women affairs disclosed that the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up had expanded its women’s affinity-group model to 4.5 million women organised into three hundred thousand groups nationwide.
The Stakeholders identified the platforms as digital trust infrastructure, data for accountability, blended finance and the National Income Activation Initiative.
High point of the open-day session was the unveiling of the National Income Activation Initiative, delivered in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, an initiative aimed at converting inclusion into income through skills acquisition, markets, digital tools, finance and business support.
