President Tinubu Meets WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala, Launches Women’s Exporters’ Fund

President Bola Tinubu welcomed the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to Aso Villa in Abuja on Thursday for a closed-door discussion on trade matters of national, continental, and global significance.

Accompanied by Trade Minister Jumoke Oduwole, Okonjo-Iweala shared details of a new initiative launched earlier in the day with the support of the First Lady—a Women’s Exporters’ Fund for the digital economy.

The fund, a collaboration between the WTO and the International Trade Centre (ITC), aims to empower female entrepreneurs by providing financial and technical support to help them navigate economic challenges and expand their businesses.

Nigeria was selected as one of four countries worldwide to participate in the program. Out of 67,000 applicants, 146 Nigerian women were chosen as beneficiaries.

Among them, 16 winners under the “Booster Track” will receive business scaling assistance, including 18 months of mentorship from the WTO and ITC. Another 100 women will be granted $5,000 each to establish or strengthen their ventures, along with 12 months of training.

The meeting took place just two weeks before Okonjo-Iweala’s second term as WTO chief begins on September 1, 2025.

She made history in 2021 as the first African and first woman to lead the global trade body.

President Tinubu expressed confidence that her continued leadership would reinforce the WTO’s role in fostering inclusive economic growth and good governance worldwide over the next four years.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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