The Presidency has said it is shifting its social intervention strategy from temporary handouts to sustainable wealth creation and grassroots economic inclusion for women as part of efforts to drive long-term national development.

To advance the initiative, the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion, under the Office of the Vice President, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, will host the She’sIncluded 2026 Summit, a platform aimed at accelerating women’s economic empowerment, expanding financial inclusion and promoting inclusive economic growth.

The two-day summit, scheduled for August 19 and 20 at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, will bring together government officials, regulators, development partners, financial institutions, private sector leaders and international stakeholders to develop practical strategies for expanding economic opportunities for Nigerian women.

The Presidency said the initiative reflects the commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to place women at the centre of Nigeria’s economic transformation by positioning them as wealth creators, investors and business owners rather than beneficiaries of government interventions.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr Nurudeen Zauro, said the summit would mark a shift from policy discussions to implementation.

He noted that the inaugural edition in 2025 resulted in the adoption of the Aso Accord, which committed stakeholders to advancing women’s economic and financial inclusion through coordinated action, adding that this year’s summit would focus on delivering measurable outcomes.

According to Zauro, the summit is expected to mobilise investments, strengthen partnerships and create sustainable pathways for women to access finance, entrepreneurship, technology, innovation and productive employment.

Held under the theme, “Designing for Delivery: Financing. Systems. Scale,” the summit will feature discussions across nine strategic pillars aimed at expanding financial inclusion, strengthening enterprise development, improving access to capital and building systems that support long-term economic empowerment.

He added that every recommendation emerging from the summit would be assigned clear ownership, implementation timelines and measurable performance indicators to ensure accountability.

Zauro said the initiative aligns with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and supports the administration’s target of building a $1tn economy by 2030 by recognising women’s participation as a key driver of inclusive growth and national prosperity.

He also said the summit would deepen collaboration among government agencies, regulators, financial institutions, development partners and the private sector while attracting investments capable of transforming the economic prospects of millions of Nigerian women.

Speaking during the visit, the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, described the second edition of the summit as evidence of the initiative’s growing impact.

“The fact that this is going into a second edition shows there was impact. It demonstrates continuity and confirms that we are on the right track,” she said.

The minister commended the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion for driving the initiative, stressing that meaningful gender inclusion requires the collective commitment of both men and women.

She said the Tinubu administration recognises women’s economic empowerment as a strategic priority for national development and is deliberately replacing dependency-driven interventions with policies that enable women to build businesses, own productive assets and participate fully across key sectors of the economy.

“For too long, women have largely been beneficiaries of intervention programmes. What we want now is to economically empower them so they become co-creators of prosperity. Women should own businesses, build capital ventures and participate across every segment of the value chain,” she said.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim added that government programmes are increasingly designed to ensure women become not only recipients of finance but also investors, financial service providers and employers.

She identified the energy sector as a major opportunity for women’s participation, citing the ministry’s Women in the Natural Gas and Sustainable Energy programme as an initiative that combines efforts to tackle energy poverty with the creation of business opportunities in clean cooking technologies and gas distribution.

She also advocated the introduction of a harmonised biometric beneficiary management system to track participants across government empowerment programmes and prevent duplication.

“We do not want career beneficiaries. People can benefit from different programmes as they advance, but not continue to receive the same interventions repeatedly. A unified biometric system will improve transparency, accountability and the overall effectiveness of government empowerment initiatives,” she said.

The minister disclosed that Vice President Kashim Shettima had been briefed on the initiative and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting the objectives of the She’sIncluded 2026 Summit.