Women — Activists Urge Nigerian Companies To Level The Field
Daily Metro News NG
Lagos, Nigeria
Only one in three entry-level jobs in Nigeria’s formal private sector is occupied by women, according to the McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2025 Report — a startling figure that fueled the launch of a new campaign on Africa’s Women’s Day in Lagos.
The campaign, tagged Fair Start, was unveiled by advocacy firm Gatefield with a call for Nigerian employers to dismantle structural barriers that push women out of the career ladder. The launch featured a street activation in Lagos’ financial district, where cyclists told real-life stories of women breaking workplace limits. The campaign also went viral online under the hashtag #LevelTheField.
Despite 77 percent of CEOs in Nigeria declaring gender equity a top priority, the McKinsey study revealed that only 33 percent of companies track promotion data by gender. Worse still, women who reach senior roles are 30 percent more likely to leave within a year, citing rigid policies, lack of caregiver support, and poor promotion pathways.
“We created Fair Start to show what’s possible when equity is embedded by design, not treated as an afterthought,” said Christinah Akintoye, Narrative Practice Lead at Gatefield.
The campaign’s framework outlines five key measures for companies:
Hire more women at entry and mid-level positions.
Create structured promotion pathways.
Track and act on gender-disaggregated data.
Introduce caregiver-friendly workplace policies.
Hold leaders accountable by tying equity outcomes to performance reviews.
The initiative has drawn endorsements from leading voices in business and policy. Mayowa Kuyoro, Partner at McKinsey Nigeria, stressed: “Companies must build systems that retain women, not just recruit them.”
Amina Oyagbola, Board Chair of Afrobarometer, called for transparency: “Leadership must not only track gender data but publish it, so progress is measured in the open.”
For Vivianne Ihekweazu, MD of Nigeria Health Watch, policies alone are not enough: “The work environment must enable women to thrive, not merely survive.” And Fola Olatunji-David, Partner at KickOff Africa, warned that exclusion often begins early: “Women are locked out of opportunities long before they reach the boardroom.”
Employers are invited to sign a public pledge at fairstart.gatefield.co, committing to measurable gender equity outcomes.
As Africa marked its Women’s Day in Lagos, the message from campaigners was unmistakable: equity must move beyond rhetoric and into the everyday reality of Nigerian workplaces.