SheIsIncluded targets 10 million Nigerian women with mobile-based skills training

Nigeria’s SheIsIncluded initiative has concluded its 2026 summit and is now moving into implementation, with a national delivery model designed to bring 10 million women within reach of skills and economic opportunity.

The development was disclosed in a press statement issued on Thursday, August 20, by the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI) and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

The two-day summit, held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, under the theme “Designing for Delivery: Financing. Systems. Scale,” brought together government leaders, development partners, financial institutions and private-sector organisations to strengthen the systems needed to expand economic opportunity for Nigerian women.

The summit marked the second edition of SheIsIncluded, following the inaugural 2025 gathering that culminated in the adoption of the Aso Accord, a stakeholder commitment to advancing women’s economic and financial inclusion through coordinated action. At the centre of the initiative’s delivery model is Ubuntu Tribe, SheIsIncluded’s implementation and technology partner.

The platform enables women to enrol, learn a practical, job-relevant skill in their local language using the phone they already own, and earn a verifiable credential that employers and financial institutions can recognise. The training is free for participating women.

“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,” said Hon. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Dr Nurudeen Zauro, Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion and Secretary of PreCEFI, described the summit as a turning point.

“The summit marks a decisive transition from policy conversations to practical implementation,” he said.

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Why SheIsIncluded is targeting 10 million women

The urgency behind SheIsIncluded is rooted in a persistent gap. Only 47% of Nigerian women hold formal bank accounts, compared with 58% of men. Vice President Kashim Shettima, speaking at the summit, described women’s financial inclusion not as charity, but as an economic growth strategy.

As part of broader efforts to close the gap, the Federal Government is targeting 4.5 million women through the expanded Nigeria for Women Programme, while national digital skills initiatives have already reached more than 263,000 Nigerians.

SheIsIncluded sits within that broader policy architecture, designed to operate beyond a standalone programme by aligning government, development partners and the private sector around a shared objective. The initiative’s delivery pathway is deliberate in its simplicity.

A woman enrols on her phone, learns a skill in her own language, earns a verifiable credential, and uses it to pursue employment, entrepreneurship or financial opportunity. Repeated millions of times, that individual journey becomes a national transformation.

Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, Founder of Ubuntu Tribe, explained the platform’s role.

“A woman should not need wealth or proximity to opportunity to develop a valuable skill. Ubuntu’s role is to put that opportunity within reach through the phone already in her hand and a credential the economy can recognise,” he said.

Oyin Solebo, COO of Ubuntu Tribe and former Managing Director of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator, described the partnership’s significance.

“This is what innovative capital deployment looks like. It is like a government building real investment readiness at scale, and a partner meeting that foundational work with non-dilutive funding at exactly the moment it’s needed,” she said.

The initiative is designed to scale beyond a single cohort. All women who complete the learning journey retain their verifiable credentials, creating a growing pool of recognised talent that employers and financial institutions can access.