Fund Women As Economic Assets, Not Beneficiaries, Says Olori Atuwatse III

Queen Consort of the Warri Kingdom, Olori Atuwatse III, has called on governments, financial institutions and global investors to stop treating African women as beneficiaries of charity and instead recognise them as economic assets capable of driving sustainable growth across the continent.

At the AIM Congress 2026 during a session themed, “World Governments as Incubators for Tolerance and Shared Growth,” Olori said financing women should focus on strengthening their agency and entrepreneurial capacity rather than benevolence, stressing that African women already power the continent’s economy but remain grossly underfunded.

She said the Royal Iwere Foundation set up the EstablishHER initiative after discovering that many women-owned businesses remained small not because of lack of ability, but because of limiting beliefs and poor access to mentorship.

“We invest in the whole woman first, and then her enterprise. Before anyone sees a business plan, she sees a counsellor, a therapist and a coach. Mindset first is not soft; it is what makes the money work,” she said.

Olori Atuwatse III disclosed that results from the foundation’s 2025 Academy showed women who could identify their limiting beliefs increased from 45 to 81 per cent, while profit tracking rose from 37 to 78 per cent.

She added that the foundation had also launched the EstablishHER Entrepreneurship Fund, describing it as patient capital designed to support women-owned businesses beyond short-term lending cycles.

Speaking on the impact of the programme, the Warri Queen said six graduates had independently launched the HER3000 Initiative with the goal of training 3,000 women in vocational skills, financial literacy and entrepreneurship, while another beneficiary, Anabel Ezewu, had trained over 100 women and youths free of charge through five editions of her own programme.

She noted that many successful women entrepreneurs, including Tessy Emekarhe of Warri, had expanded opportunities for others despite never being recognised by financial institutions as investable businesses.

The Olori urged investors to adopt longer-term financing models, replace collateral-based lending with cash-flow and guarantee-backed financing, and prioritise leadership development alongside access to capital.

“A woman who has been established goes on to establish others. Agency does not sit still in a woman’s business; it travels. Women reinvest up to 90 per cent of their income back into their communities,” she said.

“Do not finance the African woman as a beneficiary. Finance her as an economic asset. Fund formation, not just facilities; price patience into your investments and measure the women they empower, not just the women you train,” she stated.

She maintained that Africa’s women were already central to the continent’s economy and should no longer be overlooked, insisting that the real opportunity lies in recognising and investing in their economic potential. “We are not asking anyone to be generous. We are asking you to be early.

The African woman is an investment in Africa’s future, and those who recognise that today will reap tomorrow’s returns,” Olori Atuwatse III added.