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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has called for the empowerment of women through the hospitality sector.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim, while speaking during the Africa Hospitality and Event Management Continental (AHEM–C) Business Summit and Masterclass in Abuja, said the summit which focused on ‘Upscaling Business Through Structure, Strategy, and Innovation,’ is profoundly timely.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said: “This is how national transformation truly begins: quietly, practically, with people, especially women who decide to move from talk to action. ‘If you educate and empower a woman, you empower a nation.’ This timeless truth is visible right here in the hospitality and event sector. It is one of the most human expressions of who we are as Nigerians – warm, creative, resilient, and endlessly welcoming.”
The minister added that more than just a service industry, the hospitality sector is crucible where women excel at turning creativity into scalable enterprises.
“This sector, once fully organized with structure, strategy, and innovation, becomes a powerful engine of job creation and economic diversification, proving that our national spirit is indeed a blueprint for inclusive prosperity,” she also said.
She further said the excellence of Nigerian women cannot be underestimated.
“We are the architects of inclusive growth and the guardians of social inclusion. President Tinubu’s vision of a $1 trillion economy by 2030 is attainable with the full economic participation of Nigerian women, making this sector a high-priority avenue for women’s mass employment and entrepreneurship.
“Investing here is a direct, smart injection of capital into your hands. To truly unlock this potential, we must address a fundamental challenge: the Care Economy. The burden of unpaid domestic work often leads to ‘time poverty,’ severely restricting a woman’s ability to scale her business.
“By supporting affordable, high-quality care services and creating formalized, dignified paid care roles, we are literally giving millions of Nigerian women back their time – time they can use for education, enterprise, and the strategic growth of businesses,” the minister added.
Also speaking, the Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Abisoye Fagade, said the summit was important since tourism is no longer just an industry, but an engine of national renewal.
“Globally, tourism accounts for over 10 percent of GDP and one in every ten jobs. In Africa, it is one of the fastest-growing sources of employment for youth and women. Yet in Nigeria, despite our immense cultural, culinary, and ecological wealth, tourism’s contribution remains under five percent of GDP.
“This gap is not for lack of beauty, heritage, or opportunity. It is primarily a capacity and innovation gap, a human capital issue that we at NIHOTOUR are determined to close,” Fagade said.
In her remarks, AHEM-C 2025 Convener, Akinlade Tolulope, said the summit was born out of a realization during a trip she took to Italy, that while the world celebrates its destinations, Africa is the true home of hospitality.
“Africa is not just a continent; it’s an experience, a rhythm, a feeling, and a story waiting to be told and I knew we needed to correct the narrative about how the world sees us,” Akinlade said.
