Why fixing Nigeria’s gender gap starts in the workplace

BY BLESSING ADESIYAN

When we talk about closing the gender gap in Nigeria, we often think in terms of education, politics, and access to opportunity. But we rarely confront the issue at its core: the workplace. For Nigerian women, work isn’t just a career decision. Work is a negotiation between ambition and care, and its hidden costs are costing more than we realise.

In a corporate world where work happens from 9 -5, mothers in the formal sector every month must choose between daycare centres charging ₦20,000–₦60,000, live-in nannies costing up to ₦100,000, or unpaid labour from relatives. All this in a country where the minimum wage is ₦70,000. The math is simple and damning: for many women, working in the formal sector simply doesn’t pay.

This “care cost” is invisible in balance sheets but devastatingly real in boardrooms. Women account for 49% of Nigeria’s informal workforce and begin strong in sectors like finance and healthcare, with representation near parity at entry levels. But from there, the numbers plunge. In finance, there’s a 13-percentage-point drop from entry to senior leadership. In healthcare, women start with a 51% presence but lose 10 points by mid-career.

Why? Because the system is built around men.

Nigeria has no legally guaranteed paid maternity or paternity leave. Parental support policies are virtually nonexistent. For every ten women promoted to senior leadership, three quit within a year. Not because they aren’t competent, but because they are exhausted and struggling with the financial burden. The demands of work are unrelenting; the support is nonexistent.

This isn’t just a gender issue. It’s an economic one.

A McKinsey study shows that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 25% more likely to outperform on profitability. One more woman in senior management is associated with a return on assets that is up to 13 basis points higher. Gender parity isn’t charity; it’s smart business.

Let’s take Corporate Nigeria’s finance industry as a case study. It took a 30% gender representation mandate from the Central Bank of Nigeria to open the door to more female CEOs. Regulation worked. And it can again. If Nigeria wants more women in leadership, we need enforceable policies around parental leave, flexible work, and anti-discrimination.

We can also look to our legal sector, where women maintain near-equal representation at all levels. Why? Because once women are in, they stay and they deliver. Corporate Nigeria must take note: it’s not enough to hire women. You have to keep them. That means policies that support the dual role many women play as professionals and caregivers.

We need more than mentorship programs and diversity pledges. We need actual infrastructure that includes affordable childcare, legal protections, flexible scheduling, and family-friendly workplaces.

In a country where 64% of Nigerians are comfortable with women in corporate leadership, but only 50% in political leadership, corporate Nigeria has the power and public backing to lead the change. And when women thrive at work, families thrive at home. So does the economy.

Let’s stop framing gender inclusion as a favour to women. It’s a favour to the future of Nigeria.

Blessing Adesiyan is a care economist and founder, Caring Africa