Since taking office in 2023, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pursued one of the most consequential economic reset agendas in Nigeria’s recent history, scrapping fuel subsidies, unifying the FX market, and signalling a return to market-led policy.
But beyond the headline reforms and volatile macro data lies a quieter, strategic shift in governance: the elevation of women into critical ministerial, agency, and parastatal roles that sit at the heart of execution.
In his cabinet alone, out of the 48 ministers, seven are women.
While inflation and currency pressures have tested households and businesses, financial markets have told a more optimistic story.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited has rallied sharply, buoyed by reform momentum, banking sector recapitalisation plays, and a gradual re-entry of foreign portfolio investors seeking yield and policy clarity.
This piece tracks the women(in no order of ranking)shaping that transition, leaders tasked with translating reform into results across finance, trade, regulation, and state-owned enterprises.
Their influence offers a distinct lens into how Tinubu’s economic agenda is being implemented, and whether Nigeria’s early market gains can evolve into sustained, broad-based growth.
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Nigeria
Olu Verheijen is an energy executive and policy adviser with nearly two decades of experience across gas, power, and renewable energy markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her work spans investment strategy, energy transition advisory, and infrastructure development across both public and private sectors.
She serves as Special Adviser on Energy to President Bola Tinubu, where she supports national energy policy, sector reforms, and investment coordination across Nigeria’s oil, gas, and power value chains.
Verheijen is Managing Director of Latimer Energy, a consulting firm focused on value optimisation in energy asset acquisition, development, and management. She previously held roles as a Partner at Persistent, an early-stage investment firm backing distributed renewable energy companies, and as a deal lead at Shell, where she worked on gas commercialisation and M&A transactions. Earlier in her career, she worked at Moody’s Investors Service in New York.
She is also the founder of the BFA Foundation, which provides scholarships to women and underserved groups pursuing careers in high-growth sectors, including energy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Long Island University and a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
