LAGOS, Nigeria, 25 November2025-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- In a move to significantly strengthen the pipeline of scalable women-led businesses in Africa, African Business Stories (ABS) launched its inaugural Scale Ready Bootcamp in Lagos.
The Bootcamp, which took place on 7 November 2025, followed a high-level morning Roundtable hosted at Microsoft Nigeria under the theme “Positioning for Scale in Nigeria and Beyond.” The Roundtable convened policymakers, financiers, and private-sector leaders, including Hon. Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade & Investment; Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, MFR, Co-Founder, Aluko & Oyebode; senior representatives from the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment; Afreximbank; Microsoft West Africa; and members of the private sector.
ABS Founder, Akaego Okoye, noted that the Bootcamp builds directly on insights from the Roundtable. “We had a powerful dialogue about the structural barriers that continue to limit the growth of women-led businesses. The Bootcamp is our practical response, equipping founders with the financial, digital and trade capabilities required to scale in real terms.”
The ABS Scale Ready Bootcamp hosted twenty selected women-led enterprises operating in sectors including manufacturing, agrifood, logistics, technology, services, and consumer goods. The curriculum covered four critical pillars of business scale: Digital Readiness, Finance Readiness, Trade Readiness under AfCFTA, and Founder Readiness.
Facilitators included experts from Shecluded, Afreximbank, the AfCFTA Secretariat and Data Science Nigeria (DSN), who delivered practical sessions on investment readiness, export certification, cross-border trade frameworks, digital optimization and data-driven operations.
At the Roundtable, Hon. Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem highlighted Lagos State’s commitment to supporting MSMEs with financing, export support and job creation, describing women-led enterprises as “critical to Lagos’ economic engine.” Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, in his remarks, stressed the importance of policy alignment, capital access, and institutional partnerships in unlocking the growth potential of women-owned businesses. Representing Afreximbank, Mr. Ody Akhanoba reaffirmed the Bank’s focus on supporting women in trade, strengthening investment readiness and enabling SMEs to leverage continental opportunities under the AfCFTA.
“Lagos is the beginning,” Okoye added. “We are building a strong, visible pipeline of fundable, export-ready, digital-ready African women founders. The goal is to position them for investment and cross-border expansion.”
The Bootcamp was supported by Microsoft Nigeria, Shecluded, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Afreximbank, the AfCFTA Secretariat, and DSN Nigeria.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of African Business Stories
About African Business Stories (ABS)
ABS is a platform committed to accelerating the growth of women-led businesses across Africa. Through storytelling, high-level convenings, and capacity-building programmes, ABS ensures women entrepreneurs are positioned to lead Africa’s economic transformation.
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