The Chevening Alumni Association Nigeria is set to host a gender-focused budgeting and procurement training in Rivers State to strengthen institutional capacity and boost women’s participation in public procurement. According to a statement by the Chevening Programme Officer at the British High Commission in Nigeria, Oluwafunmilayo Ladepo, the initiative is organised in partnership with DO Take Action and supported by the Chevening Alumni Programme Fund of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Ladepo explained that the programme will feature a Train-the-Trainers Workshop, a High-Level Stakeholders Engagement Forum, and a Graduation Ceremony. She noted that these activities fall under the Scaling Women’s Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Procurement programme, known as SWEEAP. The initiative is aimed at promoting gender-inclusive reforms while improving the technical capacity of government institutions in gender-responsive budgeting and procurement. It also seeks to empower women-owned and women-led businesses to access government contracts.
The Train-the-Trainers Workshop will hold on December 11, 2025, at 9:00 a.m., bringing together procurement officers, gender desk officers, and civil society representatives for intensive training. The goal is to support the integration of gender-responsive practices into government systems as part of efforts to drive inclusive development across Rivers State.
Ladepo also announced that a High-Level Stakeholders Engagement Forum with the theme “Advancing Gender-Responsive Budgeting and Affirmative Procurement for Inclusive Development in Nigeria” will take place on December 12, 2025, at 9:00 a.m.
She said the forum will convene senior government officials, policymakers, development partners, women entrepreneurs, private sector actors, and civil society organisations to deepen policy dialogue, strengthen collaboration, and develop a roadmap for institutionalising affirmative procurement practices in the state.
The event will feature the graduation of beneficiaries who completed the SWEEAP capacity-building programme, marking their readiness to leverage public procurement opportunities and contribute to inclusive economic growth.
“The UK, through the FCDO’s Chevening Alumni Programme Fund, is proud to support the SWEEAP initiative. This project embodies our commitment to strengthening institutional capacity and fostering the policy dialogue necessary for inclusive economic growth and gender equality in Nigeria. We look forward to the tangible policy outcomes this forum will yield in Rivers State,” the statement added.
The President of the Chevening Alumni Association of Nigeria, Kester Osahenye, said the initiative highlights the importance of alumni-led interventions. “The SWEEAP initiative exemplifies how strategic alumni-led interventions can contribute meaningfully to advancing the development agenda in Nigeria. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of government institutions and women-owned businesses so that gender-responsive procurement becomes a norm, not an aspiration,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of DO Take Action, Precious Ebere Chinonso, described the broader mission of the programme. “Scaling women’s economic empowerment through affirmative procurement is about breaking barriers that have kept women at the margins of public procurement for too long. We’re leveraging capacity-building, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement to ensure women are not just included but prioritised in procurement systems,” she stated.
In August 2025, CAAN, working with DO Take Action, trained 600 women-owned and women-led businesses across Kano and Rivers States under the SWEEAP programme, equipping them with skills and networks to access public procurement contracts.
Also in 2025, the national push for gender-responsive procurement gained momentum as a delegation from UN Women visited the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency to deepen collaboration and advance gender-responsive procurement frameworks across Nigeria.
