WIMBIZ 25th annual conference to address funding barriers facing women-owned businesses
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) has unveiled its 25th annual conference and anniversary logo, pledging to address funding barriers facing women-owned businesses as it begins a new phase of advancing women’s leadership.
The organisation also called for stronger partnerships with businesses, institutions and men to expand opportunities for women in leadership, public service and enterprise.
The conference, themed “Rooted, Rising, Ready: Born in Africa, Built for the World,” is scheduled for November 5 and 6, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. The event will be held in a hybrid format, with both physical and virtual participation.
WIMBIZ 25th Anniversary Committee Chair, Awuneba Ajumogobia, made the announcements at a media briefing held at the UNDP Innovation Centre, Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, where she reflected on the organisation’s 25-year journey of connecting women, building leadership capacity and supporting their participation in business and public service.
She said WIMBIZ was established as a platform where women could connect, grow and advance together, noting that its impact extended beyond the number of women reached to the opportunities created for individuals to build businesses, assume leadership positions and support others.
According to her, the organisation has reached hundreds of thousands of women across more than 20 countries and mentored thousands for leadership roles.
Ajumogobia said access to finance remained one of the recurring challenges confronting women-owned businesses, stressing that many promising enterprises struggled to grow not because of a lack of talent or ambition, but because of inadequate capital.
She said WIMBIZ was committed to developing practical solutions to make financing more accessible to women seeking to establish, grow and scale their businesses.
“We’re moving away from highlighting the challenges and proffering solutions to the challenges facing women. We’re moving away from that to be a part of the solution,” she said.
Unveiling the anniversary logo, she said its design reflected WIMBIZ’s history of supporting women and its continuing commitment to their advancement.
She explained that the numbers two and five in the logo leaned towards each other, symbolising women supporting one another so that no woman would stand alone.
Ajumogobia added that the use of the word “impacting” was deliberate, conveying that the organisation’s work was ongoing and that its responsibility to advance women had not ended.
Speaking on WIMBIZ’s growth and leadership transition, a member of the Board of Trustees, Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, said the organisation’s founders handed over its leadership to a new generation of trustees in 2022 to build an institution capable of sustaining its vision beyond its founders.
She said the transition had enabled WIMBIZ to strengthen its governance, expand its international presence and build on the foundation established by its founders.
According to Akinkugbe, Wimbiz is now registered in the United Kingdom, recognised as a public charity equivalent in the United States and has members across more than 20 countries.
She disclosed that WIMBIZ had reached more than 400,000 women directly and over five million indirectly, “More than 5,600 women had benefited from our monitoring initiatives, including, Women on Boards, Women in Law, WIMBoard and our general monitoring programmes.”
Akinkugbe also said more than 11,000 girls had been mentored through the organisation’s Big Sister programme, while its impact investment programme had facilitated more than 35 grants to women in business.
She also said that over 25,000 women had participated in WIMBIZ’s flagship annual conference, while its network comprised more than 4,000 accomplished women, comprising 3,757 associate members and 371 life members.
She added that eight out of every 10 mentees in the women on Boards programmes were considered ready for board appointments, while six out of every 10 women surveyed reported significant positive effects on their careers from their involvement with Wimbiz.
Despite these achievements, Akinkugbe said global progress towards gender equality remained too slow, with women continuing to face barriers to leadership in management and politics.
She described the situation as a challenge that required sustained action, saying WIMBIZ’s next 25 years would focus on accelerating progress rather than accepting prolonged timelines for achieving gender parity.
One of it’s Founders, Adeola Azeez, challenged the perception that women do not support one another, recounting how a woman she had never met helped her secure accommodation during a trip to Abuja for the Nigerian Economic Summit.
She said the experience demonstrated the importance of women building networks and extending support to one another, particularly when opportunities or assistance were needed.
A member of the Board of Trustees Osayi Alile, also called for stronger partnerships and greater male involvement in advancing women’s leadership, stressing that empowering women was not about displacing men but creating a society in which both could contribute to national development.
“We are empowering women to be better. We are not empowering them to take over; we are working together to make sure that the country we build, first Nigeria and Africa, is better,” she said.
She urged the media to sustain conversations about women’s leadership and gender inclusion, describing gender equality as a strategic and economic priority rather than merely a desirable social goal.
Its founders, including Adeola Azeez, Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, Morin Desalu and Yewande Zaccheaus, reaffirmed WIMBIZ’s commitment to building on its achievements while creating more opportunities for women and girls in the years ahead.
At the event, the organisers named a veteran corporate governance and strategy professional, Bennedikter Molokwu, as the conference chairperson.
Molokwu, who has served on more than 15 boards and is a past president of the Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria, brings decades of experience in governance, risk management and women’s empowerment to the silver jubilee edition.
The event will also feature 2026 WIMBIZ Impact Investment Opportunity, which will provide a grant pool of up to N6m for outstanding female entrepreneurs in sectors including food and beverage, sustainability and innovation.
The initiative is supported by the Nigerian Bottling Company, Coca-Cola, Unilever and AllOn, with First Bank remaining its main partner, having supported WIMBIZ for the past 25 years.
In partnership with AllOn, WIMBIZ also launched the AllOn Solar Challenge.
Under the programme, two female entrepreneurs will each receive a fully installed solar system, comprising panels, inverters, batteries and installation, to support women-led businesses in the clean energy space.
The organisation disclosed that it was collaborating with IWOSAN to provide health assessments for delegates at the conference.
Wimbiz is also working with the Enterprise Development Centre, Pan-Atlantic University, to offer business development advisory services to participants.
