Nigerian women are increasingly involved in investment and financial management because of their strong entrepreneurial spirit, improved financial literacy, and efforts to close the gender gap in economic engagement.
Financial freedom and generating multiple income streams are key drivers for most, with millennial women making up the largest percentage at 86 per cent.
Savings and investment patterns have also reflected positive shifts over the past years.
More Nigerian women reportedly saved and invested more than their male counterparts, who often spent money on riskier ventures like growth assets.
For most Nigerian women, an investment is not “real” if it cannot be seen or touched. These are considered long-term security for their children.
Businesses
According to Mastercard’s 2025 study, 83 per cent of Nigerian women identify themselves as entrepreneurs, significantly higher than the EEMEA average of 51%.
Nigeria’s millennial women (86%) are leading the charge, ahead of their male counterparts (79%).
Mastercard highlighted that the entrepreneurial spirit among Nigerian women was alive and thriving, especially among younger generations.
These women are not only eager to start businesses but also actively involved in side hustles, with 87% of women being involved in income-generating activities in addition to their primary source of income, which clearly indicates their strong entrepreneurial spirit and determination to attain financial freedom.”
Nigerian Stocks
Nigerian women are increasingly participating in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX), indicating a great interest in stocks that provide stability, dividend yields, growth opportunities, and alignment with their daily needs.
Social media debates suggest that women favor stable and dividend-yielding blue-chip stocks, consumer products, banking, telecommunication, and agro-based stocks. Nigerian stocks like MTN Nigeria, GT, Nestle, Presco, Seplat Energy, UBA, Stanbic IBTC, and Okomu Oil fall under such a category
Real Estate
Real Estate: This is still the traditional standard for many women. Female investors are no longer a rare breed in the Nigerian real estate sector; they are rapidly becoming an accelerating factor.
The number of Nigerian women who are investing, developing, and professionalizing real estate activity is increasing despite the low rates of home ownership among women relative to men.
In addition, Nigerian women, spurred by rising incomes, access to fintech, and community investment, are beginning to take their fair share of the opportunity, not only in terms of who buys property but also in terms of how properties are financed, marketed, and utilized.
Gold and Jewelry
Gold and Jewelry: Apart from being a fashion statement, investing in high-karat gold has been a timeless hedge. It is portable, stores value well against the Naira and can be easily converted to cash when in need of liquidity. Gold retains purchasing power as a store of value with a depreciating Naira and inflation concerns. Gold, unlike cash, does not depreciate.
Spending gold instead of cash is not “shopping” for these women. Rather, it is transforming a losing currency (Naira) into a “shopping” with gold for an appreciating global asset.
In Nigeria’s business capital, gold jewelry markets like Balogun and Itire, “gold is liquid gold.” In minutes, a wealthy woman can walk into a gold store and turn an 18-carat gold chain into millions of Naira.
Individuals who purchased gold at lower prices several years ago are now diversifying their assets into other gold businesses, investing in real estate, or upgrading their lifestyles at substantial profit.
The gold purchasing habits of Lagos’s top-tier women stem from having an appreciation for gold’s tactile nature as a physical asset that isn’t stored digitally in a bank. Gold’s value means women can sidestep the risk of traditional savings, which may come with fees and a paper trail. Economically and politically volatile times may put a person’s wealth at risk.
High-Yield Digital Savings
With the advent of user-friendly apps, young Nigerian women have shifted away from the old “mattress savings” system to automated wealth management platforms.
Fintech Apps (PiggyVest, Cowrywise): These are well-liked for their “Safelock” options, which guard against impulsive spending while exposed to interest rates as high as 20% in the prevailing 2026 market conditions.
Money Market Funds: Nigerian women love these because they are low-risk investments that provide higher returns than a regular savings account, often managed by reputable companies like Stanbic IBTC or United Capital.
Women-Centric Funds: Products such as the United Capital Wealth for Women Fund are designed with female investors in mind. These types of funds invest in companies with strong female representation in leadership, which appeals to the growing need for socially responsible investing.
