Women’s legal rights are advancing, but gaps exist where it matters the most. Between 2023 and October 2025, 68 economies enacted 113 legal reforms targeting women’s economic rights and strengthening their economic opportunities. The progress is evident, but major gender gaps still exist. Closing gender gaps in entrepreneurship could raise global GDP by 2%, and given the demographic scale of Nigeria, that would be significant.


Why it Matters

Legal equality for women isn’t just a moral order, it’s an economic one. Where laws treat women as equals, they are more likely to own businesses. Closing gender gaps in entrepreneurship adds to income and boosts productivity. For a fast-growing country like Nigeria, with the majority of its population being young, the stakes are high. Without reform, demographic growth becomes a missed opportunity rather than a means of growth.

State of Play

83% of Nigerian women identify as entrepreneurs, yet 35% say they still must get a job to maintain financial stability.

Nigeria scores 50 out of 100 for the existence of gender equality laws, but earns just 21.7 out of 100 for the systems required to implement them. For women entrepreneurs, that gap shows up in cash flow, collateral, and credit.

62% of women entrepreneurs identified a lack of startup capital or equipment as a primary barrier to their business growth.

Nigerian women find it difficult to provide property as collateral for loans due to patriarchal social norms. It is often easier for them to provide collateral like jewelry and equipment, but most lenders don’t accept these. The most accepted collateral is land, and most women don’t own any.

The Bottomline

Nigeria is wasting one of the world’s most active pools of entrepreneurial energy, with 23 million women entrepreneurs currently building on a shaky foundation. The barriers are measurable and fixable problems. Structural changes are necessary: mandate equal access to credit and reform collateral requirements. Without these in action, the economic potential of Nigeria will remain out of reach.

Author, Ebimoboere Ebiede