About 450 women from five local government areas in Lagos have received empowerment tools worth millions of naira after completing a one-year training programme focused on financial literacy and economic independence.
The initiative, implemented under the Household Economic Strengthening and Resilience (HEAR) project, was organised by the Humanity Foundation for Peace and Development (HUFFPED) with support from the French Embassy Fund.
The empowerment ceremony, held in Ikeja, brought together beneficiaries from Kosofe, Somolu, Ikorodu, Surulere and Lagos Island, many of whom had undergone months of training designed to strengthen their financial management skills and improve their ability to run sustainable small businesses.
The programme focused on helping women understand savings, responsible borrowing, and business growth strategies, while also providing practical vocational support for trades many of the participants were already engaged in.
Representative of the French Embassy in Nigeria, Mr Pieue-Louis Bonnel, said the initiative forms part of the embassy’s broader commitment to supporting projects that promote gender equality and economic empowerment across Nigeria.
He expressed satisfaction that the distribution of the empowerment tools coincided with activities marking International Women’s Day, noting that the timing symbolised a renewed push to strengthen women’s economic independence.
“The French Embassy has been supporting the projects of HUFFPED here in Lagos with what we call the French Embassy Fund for Civil Society Organizations and also capacity building for civil society organization,” Bonnel said.
He explained that the embassy’s partnership with civil society groups across the country is aimed at improving livelihoods and creating opportunities for vulnerable communities.
“So in 2024, 2025 and now 2026, the French embassy has been supporting more than 21 civil society organizations across Nigeria with projects that aimed at gender equality between men and women and economic empowerment of women and girls all across Nigeria,” he added.
Bonnel said the gathering of hundreds of women at the empowerment event was evidence that the project had produced real impact after months of engagement and training.
“Today it’s very important that I’m here because we are in the week in the aftermath of the 8th of March, the International Women’s Day.
“So after months and months of projects, you can see and probably hear in the background noise, there’s tens and tens and tens of women gathered here today.
“And we are here to celebrate them, celebrate how they have been economically empowered.”
HUFFPED Executive Director of Programmes, Mr Henry Adenigba, explained that the project was carefully structured to ensure that beneficiaries were not only trained but also supported to effectively use the tools they received.
According to him, the programme involved continuous capacity-building sessions, mentoring and community-based monitoring to ensure that the empowerment materials translate into real economic growth for the women.
“This program has been on for about a whole year.
“There have been a lot of capacity building interventions. There have been a lot of advice and others and amongst them also we have what we call community workers who are actually policing them to make sure that whatever is given to them today is properly utilized,” Adenigba said.
He added that the organisation has already put in place monitoring and evaluation systems to track the progress of beneficiaries after the distribution of the tools.
“There will be monitoring and evaluation thereafter hoping to see that at least they are doing very well in whatever trades that they have chosen or vocations.
“We are actually empowering them on what they are already into.
“It is not a charity. It is something that they have to make them work very well and be able to feed the family and lift them up from poverty.”
Adenigba also noted that community volunteers selected from the various communities of the beneficiaries will play an active role in monitoring the programme.
“We have community volunteers who we have picked from every of the communities where they live who are actually monitoring them and giving us reports every month.”
HUFFPED Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Mrs Adekemi Adeyeye, advised the beneficiaries to make productive use of the equipment provided, stressing that the aim of the programme is to strengthen their businesses rather than create short-term relief.
“My advice is what we are training them on. Not to eat up the capital, but to expand the business.
“So when we come for evaluation, we’ll be happy to do more,” Adeyeye said.
She explained that the tools distributed were carefully selected to match the existing trades of the participants, enabling them to immediately apply the knowledge gained during the training.
“We have lots of equipment for beneficiaries — stoning machines, sewing machines, grinding machines, hair dressing equipment, foodstuff, countless things, so many of it,” she said.
“For them, they continue their VSLA meeting, they continue our monitoring, and there are still other training we are still doing.”
Several beneficiaries expressed appreciation to HUFFPED and the French Embassy Fund for the opportunity, saying the training had helped them develop better financial discipline and improved their businesses.
“We are immensely grateful for the opportunity and we have learnt a lot about how to save our money.
“We do contribution through VSLA and we have used the loans collected to boost our businesses,” one of the beneficiaries said.
Some of the empowerment tools distributed included sewing and stoning machines, make-up kits, provisions, pedicure and manicure sets, hairdressing equipment, barbering tools, foodstuffs, drinks, water and baking materials.
