Following the success of its inaugural pan-African cohort, the RevUp Women Initiative is officially launching its Nigeria Edition on July 11, during the 10th Anniversary of Lagos Startup Week, organized by Prime Startups. The program aims to empower 150 women-led businesses across Lagos, Abuja, and Abia, with a strategic focus on Agribusiness and E-Commerce, two sectors critical to Nigeria’s economic growth and innovation landscape.
The launch marks a major milestone for the initiative, which is spearheaded by AfriLabs in partnership with the Visa Foundation and is committed to building a robust pipeline of scalable, sustainable, women-led enterprises across Africa.
The first cohort of the RevUp Women Initiative supported 459 women entrepreneurs from five African countries: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Through this effort, 2,426 jobs were created, and participants gained access to essential tools, including:
Training in business model development
Financial management workshops
Digital literacy and tools for growth
Strategic mentorship from a global network of professionals
In addition, 10 participants received $10,000 each in grants, further enabling them to scale their ventures and attract investment.
What the Nigeria Edition Offers
Building on this success, the Nigeria Edition will focus on delivering targeted enterprise development support to 150 women entrepreneurs, with six exceptional participants set to receive a combined $24,000 in grant funding.
Participants will benefit from:
Tailored capacity-building programs
Access to a network of experienced mentors
Exposure to investment readiness tools
Visibility within Africa’s innovation and startup ecosystem
Nanko Madu, Director of Programs at AfriLabs, emphasized the initiative’s commitment to inclusivity and real-world impact.
“We’ve seen firsthand how intentional support and access to the right tools and networks can shift the trajectory of women-led businesses, not just helping them survive but thrive.
With this new phase, we are doubling down on both impact and inclusivity, ensuring that more women across Nigeria have the resources, visibility, and community they need to grow scalable, sustainable businesses and become key players in the innovation ecosystem.”
Chukwudi Onike, Program Officer at Visa Foundation, reinforced the global importance of supporting small businesses:
“Small businesses represent 90% of all companies and account for nearly 70% of both jobs and GDP worldwide. With such a large footprint, they are an integral part of our global economy’s fabric and can’t be overlooked.
At Visa Foundation, we are focused on empowering SMBs and entrepreneurs with access to capital, digital tools, and financial skills to grow and thrive. Our partnership with AfriLabs helps us reach more entrepreneurs in need of support, including women entrepreneurs.”
Application Details
Applications for the RevUp Women Initiative: Nigeria Edition will be open from July 11 to August 8, 2025. Interested women entrepreneurs are encouraged to visit the official website to learn more and prepare their submissions.
With an ambitious long-term vision of supporting 50,000 women-led enterprises and creating over 152,000 jobs, the RevUp Women Initiative remains firmly committed to strengthening Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, one woman at a time.
This next edition promises to build on an already strong foundation, unlocking greater impact and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for women-led innovation in Nigeria and across the continent.
