For many women, starting a business is less about entrepreneurship than survival. A sewing machine can become a source of income. A grinding machine can help pay school fees. A small stock of goods can keep food on the table.
But getting the capital or equipment to start is only one part of the journey. The harder question is whether a woman can turn that small enterprise into a sustainable business that can survive shocks, grow and create jobs.
That gap between starting and growing a business sits at the centre of Chantelle Abdul’s work with the Ventures Women Fund (VWF) and its Women Empowerment Fund (WEF).
For Abdul, the challenge facing women is not a shortage of enterprise but limited access to finance, productive assets, knowledge and markets needed to turn enterprise into lasting economic value.
“My passion has always been women,” Abdul said in an interview. “Everywhere I go, I see hardworking women doing everything possible to support their families.”
Adding that: “What many of them need is not sympathy but opportunity–access to finance, mentorship, skills and markets that allow them to build successful businesses.”
The scale of the challenge is significant. UN Women estimates that 220.9 million women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa could still be living in extreme poverty by 2030, while nearly 60 percent of women’s employment globally remains informal.
Across Africa, the informal economy is often the easiest entry point into work for many women. But it is also where many struggle to access finance, technology, markets and the support needed to grow.
Beyond the handout
In December 2025, WEF carried out a women’s empowerment intervention in Lagos, providing more than 300 women with business grants and productive assets, including sewing machines, hairdressing equipment, and grinding machines, valued at more than N300 million.
The intervention gave beneficiaries productive capital, but the organisation did not treat the distribution as the end of the programme. Seven months later, it returned.
In July, beneficiaries participated in follow-up and capacity-building sessions under the theme, ‘Market Woman Today, Boss Woman Tomorrow.’ The focus was no longer on what the women had received, but on what they were doing with it.
The sessions covered financial discipline, record keeping, customer engagement, branding, business planning, product positioning and entrepreneurial leadership. That distinction matters because access to capital does not automatically produce a successful business.
A woman may receive a machine and still struggle to price her products. She may increase her stock without understanding cash flow or make sales without knowing whether the business is profitable.
“The objective was simple: ensure that every woman who benefited from the intervention had the tools not only to start a business but also to sustain and grow it,” Abdul said.
For some beneficiaries, the follow-up has helped expose the difference between owning a business asset and knowing how to run a business. One of the beneficiaries described the programme as a turning point.
“The equipment gave me the confidence to start, but the follow-up training taught me how to manage my business better. Today, I keep proper records, understand my costs, and I’m already planning to expand.”
Esther Oyewole, another participant, said the continued engagement was as important as the initial support.
“WEF didn’t just empower us and disappear. They came back to check on us, encourage us and teach us how to grow. That made all the difference.”
From income to wealth
The distinction between earning an income and building wealth is important.
A woman who sells food from a roadside stall may earn enough to support her family. But if she cannot access finance to purchase better equipment, hire workers or reach larger customers, the enterprise may remain at the same level for years.
The first stage is income generation. The next is enterprise growth.
UN Women notes that women-owned businesses are typically smaller and generate less revenue than those owned by men, while women remain heavily concentrated in informal employment.
This means empowerment cannot be reduced to a one-off distribution of money or equipment, according to Abdul.
“Empowerment is a journey, not an event,” she said. “Our responsibility does not end when we hand over equipment or grants. We remain committed to walking alongside these women as they build businesses that can transform their families and communities.”
That progression from receiving an asset, to running a business, to growing it and eventually employing others is the model VWF and WEF are seeking to build.
WEF focuses on grassroots support through productive assets, grants and business training. At the same time, VWF is intended to provide a broader pathway for women-led enterprises through mentorship, governance support, growth financing, partnerships and market opportunities.
But the task cannot rest on private initiatives alone. Government, financial institutions, development organisations and the private sector all have roles to play in creating an environment where women-owned businesses can grow.
“One of the greatest challenges facing women entrepreneurs is not the absence of ideas,” Abdul said. “It is the absence of opportunities that allow those ideas to flourish.”
In Nigeria, where millions of people depend on small and informal businesses for livelihoods, unlocking women’s productive capacity has implications beyond individual households.
The real measure of an empowerment programme is not simply the number of machines distributed or the amount of money committed. It is what those assets become.
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