How Nigeria can build a stronger pipeline for women in the workplace

As the world recently marked the International Day of the Girl Child, the spotlight turns once again to women’s representation in the corporate world. In Nigeria and across many emerging economies, the conversation has evolved beyond access to education to focus on what happens next, when girls grow into women navigating the complexities of the modern workplace.

The barriers are now within boardrooms, hiring systems, and workplace cultures that still struggle to recognise and reward female potential.

The latest McKinsey & Company report titled, ‘Women in the Workplace 2025: India, Nigeria, and Kenya’, reveals that many of the structural and cultural barriers that hinder women’s progress remain stubbornly intact.

From delayed entry into the formal workforce to underrepresentation in the C-suite, the path to equality remains uneven. However, a new wave of leadership, institutional reform, and shifting social norms offers reasons for optimism.

Read also:Career stagnation at entry level hinders women’s rise to C-suite in Nigeria- McKinsey

The early career bottleneck

The first hurdle begins long before the boardroom. McKinsey’s study shows that most women in Nigeria enter formal employment later than men and often remain stuck in entry-level roles for extended periods. This delay in professional progression limits their exposure, confidence, and access to the leadership pipeline.

The problem is particularly acute in technical and male-dominated industries such as energy, engineering, and extractive services, where gender bias continues to shape recruitment practices. The report highlighted a response by a HR professional who admitted to avoiding hiring women for certain roles, describing engineering as ‘male-dominated’. Such biases not only reduce opportunities for women but also deprive companies of diverse perspectives essential for innovation.

Mid-career challenges: The promotion gap

Even when women manage to overcome early hurdles, the mid-career stage presents its own set of obstacles. A recurring issue is the lack of transparent promotion structures. However, such systems exist, especially in sectors like hospitality and healthcare where women tend to advance more fairly, due to performance-based evaluations and standardised procedures.

Mentorship and sponsorship also play a transformative role. McKinsey’s findings highlight how women who receive active advocacy from senior colleagues often male are better able to navigate institutional barriers. As a manager observed in the report, “My male bosses defended me when others questioned my competence.” Yet, women still report feeling the need to outperform their male peers to gain equal recognition, particularly in competitive fields like medicine and finance.

At the senior level, the gender gap widens dramatically. Across Nigeria, women occupy just 28 to 29 of every 100 executive positions. Only a few sectors, such as law, are approaching parity, largely due to structured mentorship programmes and transparent promotion policies.

Read also: Only 33% of entry-level roles in Nigeria’s formal sector are held by women – McKinsey

Progress in female leadership representation

In Nigeria, however, there are emerging success stories that show what is possible when companies invest intentionally in female leadership. The financial services sector remains the country’s strongest example.

Nine of Nigeria’s 24 commercial banks are now headed by women, which ia a remarkable milestone in a traditionally male-dominated industry. These include Miriam Olusanya, managing director, GTB, Yemisi Edun, managing director/CEO FCMB, and Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, managing director/CEO of Fidelity Bank, among others.

Their rise is not coincidental. It is the outcome of deliberate succession planning, capacity-building programmes, and a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive issued in 2012, requiring a minimum of 30 percent female representation on boards and 40 percent in top management. As former Bola Adesola, former CEO, Standard Chartered bank explains, “…this progressis a testimony to how, in the last 20 to 25 years, we’ve been able to build a pipeline and bench strength.”

Other industries are beginning to follow suit. In the energy sector, business owners Folorunsho Alakija of Famfa Oil and Catherine Uju-Ifejika of Britannia-U Nigeria,  have broken through glass ceilings, inspiring younger generations. Companies such as Seplat Energy are taking practical steps with internal initiatives like the Seplat Awesome Women’s Network (SWAN), designed to promote gender equality and professional growth.

Similarly, in the pharmaceutical and conglomerate sectors, figures like Stella Okoli of Emzor Pharmaceutical and Owen Omogiafo of Transcorp demonstrate that female leadership can drive both profit and progress. These women are reshaping perceptions of what leadership looks like in Nigeria’s boardrooms.

The hidden barriers

However, despite these milestones, women still make up only about 30 percent of senior corporate positions in Nigeria, according to PwC. The firm’s data also shows that while men and women are nearly evenly represented in the lower rungs of the workforce, female participation declines sharply at the top.

Cultural factors remain a major stumbling block. In a society where patriarchal norms are deeply ingrained, women often face both internal and external pressure to prioritise family roles over career ambitions. As Olatowun Candide-Johnson, lawyer and C-suite executive notes, women often “operate in silos, instead of forging networks and sharing business opportunities as men do.” Her response to this challenge was the creation of GAIA Africa, a private members’ club for professional women to connect, collaborate, and advance together.

Turning policy into practice

For Nigerian organisations to truly build a robust pipeline of female talent, they must move beyond symbolic gestures to systemic reform. McKinsey’s report identifies four pillars which are: collaboration, data, accountability, and culture, as central to achieving meaningful progress.

Boards and CEOs must be held accountable through regular reviews of gender representation, benchmarking, and public reporting. Diversity goals should be tied to leadership performance evaluations, while mentorship and sponsorship programmes must become institutionalised rather than ad hoc.

Flexible work policies, particularly hybrid models and family care support, should also be normalised. In the post-pandemic era, flexibility is not merely an employee benefit but a strategic advantage that keeps women in the workforce and boosts retention.

In the end, the most successful companies of the future will not be those with the most polished diversity statements, but those that turn inclusion into measurable practice.