Alitheia Capital called for more capital, market access and technology for women-led businesses at the third W.O.M.A.N. conference in Lagos. The event brought together more than 300 women entrepreneurs and focused on women in manufacturing, agribusiness and nutrition. Its message was that More Capital must meet businesses prepared to grow, alongside access to markets and technology.
The conference put financing alongside the practical connections companies need to reach customers and attract investment. Speakers described financial discipline, business readiness and an ecosystem responsive to women-led firms as parts of that discussion. Their remarks pointed to investment and partnerships as outcomes they wanted the gathering to encourage.
More Capital and Business Readiness
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by Agriculture and Food Systems Commissioner Abisola Olusanya, urged participants to turn opportunities into investments and partnerships. He also called for training and ideas from the conference to support stronger businesses and enterprises that create jobs and transform communities.
“Let the conversations lead to investments. Let the connections lead to partnerships. Let the training lead to stronger businesses,” he said. He added that ideas generated at the event should lead to enterprises that create jobs and transform communities.
Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, WIMBIZ co-founder and founder and chief executive officer of DO.II Designs Limited, said financial discipline mattered to attracting investment. Speaking on the theme “From Survival to Scale: Building Investment Ready Women Led Enterprises in Nigeria’s Real Economy,” she linked financial discipline with business legibility, credibility and access to capital and growth opportunities.
“Financial discipline creates business legibility, business legibility creates credibility, and credibility creates access to capital and opportunities for growth,” Ighodalo said. Her remarks framed More Capital as something businesses may access when their finances make their operations legible to investors.
Access Beyond Financing
Jumoke Akinwunmi, Alitheia Capital co-founder, said many women-led businesses were ready for investment but needed a responsive ecosystem. “The businesses are ready. The question is whether the ecosystem around them is ready to respond,” she said.
Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment Commissioner Folashade Ambrose Medebem said women entrepreneurs needed access to opportunities rather than charity. She named capital, markets, networks, technology and opportunity as areas where access mattered.
That focus connects with other coverage of support for women entrepreneurs and reports on networks alongside credit. The conference discussion also echoes reporting on how women entrepreneurs access finance, while keeping the Lagos event’s own calls at the center.
Tokunboh Ishmael, Alitheia Capital managing partner and co-founder, said the investment case for women-led businesses had become increasingly evident. Ishmael said the firm had $250 million in assets under management and that the conference provided access to a pool of screened and growth-ready businesses.
“The question is no longer whether this market exists. The question is how quickly capital catches up with it,” Ishmael said. The source places that statement alongside the conference’s call for More Capital, market access and technology. It does not specify a new fund, investment commitment or timetable.
The conference’s stated next step was for conversations, connections, training and ideas to lead to investments, partnerships and stronger businesses. Speakers identified access to capital, markets, networks and technology as priorities for a responsive business environment. Their remarks leave investors and ecosystem participants with a concrete question: whether they will respond to businesses the speakers described as ready.
Read the conference report.
