As Nigeria prepares to implement its comprehensive tax reform laws effective January 1, 2026, small businesses are expected to experience significant relief from multiple taxes. The new regulations will exempt small companies with annual turnover not exceeding N100 million and fixed assets below N250 million from Companies Income Tax (CIT), Capital Gains Tax (CGT), and the 4% Development Levy. These measures are designed to ease the tax burden, encourage formalisation, and stimulate growth among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those owned by women.
The 5th Women Enterprise Alliance (WenA) Conference, held recently, became an important platform for educating women-led SMEs about these upcoming reforms and the opportunities they create. Many women entrepreneurs remain unaware of the specifics of these tax exemptions and new digital reporting requirements, exposing them to risks of overpayment or non-compliance.
Speaking at the conference themed “Translating Policy into Practice: Cost Reduction and Tax Reforms for Sustainable SME Growth,” the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation in the Digital Economy, Chayla Shagaya, described women-led SMEs as “the quiet economists of every household” and “a central pillar of Nigeria’s economic resilience.”
“Across Nigeria, women entrepreneurs are innovating, employing, and solving local problems with global relevance,” she said, noting that over 70% of public inputs on SME policy reforms have come from women. Shagaya explained that the government is committed to reducing operational costs and expanding access to finance through programs such as the Presidential Power Initiative, digital financing pathways, and tax harmonisation.
“You no longer need to bring your grandmother’s land title to secure a loan,” she said humorously, referring to the government’s ongoing efforts to make credit more accessible without demanding unrealistic collateral. “We are moving policies from paper to practice — especially to support women at the heart of our enterprise sector,” she added.
Under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Shagaya said, the administration is prioritising inclusive policies that translate into measurable results for women entrepreneurs.
Founder of WenA, Aisha Babangida, reflected on her experience as an entrepreneur and the ongoing challenges faced by women-led enterprises in Nigeria. “When I founded WenA, I thought passion was enough. But it wasn’t,” she said. “The paperwork, the tax codes, the licensing rules — these were heavy even for those of us with networks. Imagine what it’s like for a woman starting a micro-business in a rural town with little support.”
Babangida praised Kaduna State’s Affirmative Action Procurement Reform Initiative for including women in public procurement processes. The initiative introduced female representation on procurement boards, waived registration fees, and reserved contracts for women-led businesses. “Inclusive procurement is not a concession to women; it is an economic strategy,” she emphasised.
She also announced WenA’s forthcoming National Certification Programme, which aims to strengthen documentation, compliance, and capacity-building for women entrepreneurs. “Our goal is not to highlight problems but to unlock solutions. Today, we move from policy talk to practical tools — from exclusion to empowerment,” she said.
The conference gained national attention with a major announcement by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, represented by Olufemi Olarinde. “We are introducing a tax exemption threshold where businesses earning up to N100 million annually will be exempt from corporate income tax starting January 2026,” said Adedeji. He described the measure as “a deliberate strategy to incentivise growth, not penalise enterprise.”
According to Adedeji, the reforms aim to reduce compliance burdens and encourage more small businesses to formalise their operations. “Taxation should support the formalisation and scaling of small businesses — not stifle them,” he stated. He also revealed that FIRS will roll out a Unified Tax Identification Number (UTIN) that will centralise tax registration across the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), FIRS, and other agencies to simplify compliance.
The FIRS boss added that the agency is transitioning to a fully digital tax filing system to eliminate paper-based processes, reduce delays, and make compliance easier for SMEs.
The discussion expanded beyond taxation to address other critical factors affecting women entrepreneurs. UN Women Nigeria’s representative, Aisha Bendo-Alkali, spoke about the economic impact of unpaid care work on women’s productivity. Backed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), she called for the implementation of care-responsive policies to enable more women to participate effectively in the economy.
“Reducing the burden of unpaid care is not just a gender equality goal — it is essential to unlocking national productivity,” Bendo-Alkali said. She also advocated for expanding inclusive procurement policies nationwide to improve women’s participation in public contracts.
The conference concluded with an awards session celebrating outstanding women-led SMEs in North-Central Nigeria. The Most Scalable Business Award, worth N5 million, went to Patience Adebayo of GreenRoots AgriTech for her innovative approach to urban agriculture. The first runner-up, Chinedu Okoro of TechServe, received N3 million for developing IT solutions that support local enterprises. The second runner-up, Adaeze Nwankwo of CraftWorks, earned N2 million for her creative and sustainable handicraft business.
Three other women-led SMEs received certificates of excellence for their resilience and innovation. In a further show of support, WenA pledged free business registration for 50 women-owned enterprises to help them overcome entry barriers and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
During her closing remarks, Aisha Babangida reiterated the importance of translating policy reforms into tangible results that improve the daily experiences of women entrepreneurs. “A real reform is when a woman in Kaduna, Aba, or Makurdi feels the change in her daily hustle — when she can register her business in minutes, access capital without fear, and supply to the government without discrimination,” she said.
Chayla Shagaya echoed this message, stating, “Empowering women entrepreneurs is not charity; it is a national strategy — and the path to building a resilient and inclusive Nigerian economy.”
The 5th WenA Conference represented a major milestone in Nigeria’s journey toward a more inclusive and supportive economic system. It brought together policymakers, financiers, development partners, and entrepreneurs, all committed to advancing a gender-responsive approach to economic growth.
