Zoho Nigeria has formed a partnership with Guardian Newspapers for the Guardian Woman Festival in Lagos. This collaboration aims to address an important issue: although Nigeria has the highest concentration of women-owned businesses in Africa, less than 30% of these businesses currently utilise digital tools to manage or grow their operations.
The festival took place at the Federal Palace Hotel in Victoria Island and focused on the theme “Reciprocity.” It brought together women entrepreneurs, business leaders, and technology advocates to discuss how digital tools can help women-led businesses grow more quickly and reach a larger customer base.
Kehinde Ogundare, the head of Zoho Nigeria, gave the main speech and emphasised that the reason some women advance while others remain stagnant is not due to a lack of skills or money.
“The difference is not talent. Not capital. Not ambition. It is digital adoption,” he said. “Smart tools create smart businesses. Smart businesses create strong economies.”
Consider a woman running a tailoring business in Lagos. She may have loyal customers, strong craftsmanship, and genuine demand, but if she is tracking orders in a notebook and collecting payments by hand, there is a ceiling on how far she can grow.
A simple digital tool for invoicing, inventory, or customer management could change that entirely.
Ogundare’s point was not that technology replaces what women bring to business, but that it amplifies it. The relationship-building and community trust that many women entrepreneurs naturally excel at become far more powerful when backed by the right tools.
Zoho urges strategic approach to women’s digital inclusion
During a panel session on women in digital innovation, Zoho Nigeria’s Sales Manager, Zubaida Aliyu, reinforced that message, directing her sharpest criticism at organisations that still view women’s digital inclusion as charity work rather than a business strategy.
“Tech creates a level playing field,” Aliyu said, noting that digital platforms remove barriers tied to location and physical infrastructure. “They are leaving money on the table, they need to think of it as a strategy, not charity.”
Similar read: Zoho hits 1 million paying customers and 150 million users as it celebrates 30 years
Zoho stated that its presence at the festival demonstrates its dedication to providing affordable and accessible business technology throughout Africa. The goal is to assist entrepreneurs in transitioning from manual methods to systems that enable genuine, long-term expansion.
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