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Equity Rising: Nigeria’s Opportunity to Bridge the Gender Gap

Published

1 year ago

August 20, 2025

By Nneka Acholonu Egbuna.

Gender inequity is a barrier to social cohesion. It exists in Nigeria, which is considered one of the world’s most unequal societies, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (2025). This disparity limits basic human rights and opportunities for women.

While Nigeria has ratified many conventions and agreements in favour of gender equity and the non-discrimination of women, as well as a gender policy calling for at least 35% representation of women in governance at all levels, it still falls behind in implementing its commitments (with the exception of a few states).

The nation was thrown into shock in March 2022, when Nigeria’s National Assembly rejected five bills designed to promote gender equality and increase women’s political participation were proposed for constitutional amendment. This sparked protests across the country. The bills proposed the following:

Citizenship rights for foreign husbands – to allow Nigerian women to confer citizenship on their foreign-born husbands, as Nigerian men can for their foreign wives.
Indigeneship through marriage – women to claim their husband’s state of origin after five years of marriage.
35% affirmative action in appointment – reserving at least 35% of appointed political positions for women at the federal and state levels.
35% representation in political party leadership – women to hold at least 35% of executive positions in political parties.
Special seats for women in parliament – seats to be reserved for women in the National and State Assemblies to address the very low representation of women.

To address the situation, the National Assembly announced that the bills would be reconsidered during the next phase of constitutional amendments for the 4^th quarter of 2025.

Since 2019, the Africa Polling Institute (API) has been conducting the Nigeria Social Cohesion Survey to gauge citizens’ perceptions of unity and polarization in the country. The 2015 survey used 14 indicators —Identity, Trust, Social Justice & Equity, Civic Participation, Tolerance, Gender Equity/Disability and Inclusion, Impunity, Corruption, Natural Resource Governance, Polarization, Security and peacebuilding, Coping Strategies, Migration, and Self-worth & Future Expectations — to calculate Nigeria’s overall social cohesion index. A total of 5,465 respondents participated in the Survey with nationwide data collection covering gender, marital status, religious affiliation, age, ethnicity, and literacy levels.

According to the survey, Nigerians largely view the federal government’s efforts to promote gender equity (fairness and impartiality), protect women from discrimination and violence, ensure equal political opportunities, and punish gender-based violence offenders as insufficient. Only 28% of respondents rated the government’s overall performance in gender equity highly.The public also believes that there is a gap between women’s involvement at the grassroots level and formal political representation; women are less likely to contest elections or hold party leadership and government appointments, compared to their active participation during voting and attending rallies. The survey indicates that public perception of the Nigerian government’s efforts in promoting gender equity is largely negative, as well as the government’s endeavours to pass laws and implement policies protecting women and girls from discrimination and violence.

There is, however, a glimmer of hope and an opportunity for gender equity to thrive in the country. Although Nigerians prioritize merit over gender (according to the survey), with 79% believing qualifications and competence should be the focus, not gender, the survey indicates that there is a growing public support for female political leadership, with 63% willing to vote for a woman president and 69% for a female state governor. This willingness suggests an increasing openness for women to hold top political offices and acceptance that women can occupy prominent political roles beyond just voting.

There is a strong public support for women’s active participation in politics. Although 41% believe women should always contest elections (a 7% decrease from the 2022 survey), and 42% believe women should always hold political appointments, a notable minority still believes women should never contest (8%) or hold appointments (8%).

Eighty-seven percent of respondents support equal access to education for boys and girls, indicating a positive development. Regarding women’s leadership, 71% of respondents agree that women should be allowed to lead in various sectors, representing a positive nod and an 8% increase in support compared to previous findings. This also extends to women’s rights, with 73% supporting equal entitlement to family inheritances and equal opportunities for women who marry into other states within their husband’s state of origin. Only a small minority expressed disagreement with these advancements in gender equity.

The survey’s findings will be a valuable resource for organizations conducting initial assessments before deploying projects focused on gender equity or equality. It presents the public’s opinions about government programmes, gaps in government-to-public and public-to-government gender relations, and the opportunities that governments at various levels can leverage to engage the people in responding to their needs and priorities related to the crucial issue of gender.

Here’s a link to the full report.

By Nneka Acholonu Egbuna, Development and Humanitarian Communications Expert

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Business

Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda

Published

3 days ago

September 29, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.

That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.

At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.

Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.

Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.

Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.

From Dialogue to Industrial Action

ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.

The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.

The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.

The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.

One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.

The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.

Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition

The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.

A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.

Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.

Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.

The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.

The Digital Dimension

Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.

The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.

The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.

Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs

Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.

The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.

The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.

For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.

From National Production to African Value Chains

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.

The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.

Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.

This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.

Bridging Research and Capital

A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.

Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.

ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.

The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.

A Larger Industrial Conversation

The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.

The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.

The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.

The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.

Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.

Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.

For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.

ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.

If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.

The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production

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