Impact of Women on Nigeria's economy

This March being women’s month, PwC Nigeria presents the first of two reports highlighting the impact of women on Nigeria’s economic development. In the first paper, we assess the impact of women to Nigeria’s economic development through analysis of women’s participation and representation in the private and public sectors.

The entrepreneurial spirit is strong, and Nigerian women account for 41% ownership of micro-businesses in Nigeria with 23 million female entrepreneurs operating within this segment. This places Nigeria among the highest entrepreneurship rates globally. The high-level participation of female entrepreneurs in the country is however often driven mainly by necessity, which is the norm in emerging markets where there is insufficient formal employment.

In the formal sector, very important results are emerging. At the lower levels in formal employment there is almost an even 50-50 split in the workplace between men and women. However, as both sexes climb up the corporate ladder, women begin to decline in representation on the senior leadership teams and at the board level.