Nigeria’s race to join the global digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) economy is colliding with a deepening gender divide that threatens to lock millions of women and the nation out of the industries shaping the future of work.
This is even as the new state-by-state assessment of Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) released by BudgIT on Wednesday shows that no state in Nigeria scored the top rating for women’s participation in emerging fields such as technology, creative industries, renewable energy, data science and AI.
Findings of the report showed that only three states, Lagos, Kaduna and Cross River, achieved a green rating, exposing a national crisis hidden in plain sight. While Nigeria is building the economy of tomorrow, women, who are half of its population, remain almost entirely absent from it.
Most states remain in the Red and Yellow zones, highlighting the lack of targeted programming and investment in positioning women for future-ready sectors, with only nine states recording a specific budget line or program to creative arts, entertainment and culture for women.
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On Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) funding, the report revealed that only four states (Lagos, Gombe, Ebonyi and Cross River) had specific funding or programs for women to access STEM education or training. This underscores a crucial opportunity area for federal and subnational actors to scale women’s access to digital tools, STEM education, tech incubation programs, and policies that address gendered digital divides.
Analysts warn the trend could trigger a gendered recession, with devastating consequences for growth, jobs and competitiveness.
Celine Lafoucriere, chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Lagos field office, said, “This is not just a digital crisis, it is a national economic crisis. Nigeria’s youth should be its greatest asset, not its greatest challenge. But that will only happen if we equip them with the digital and AI competencies the future workforce demands. The economic potential is enormous, as much as $15 billion annually, but so is the risk of doing nothing.”
The structural barriers holding women back begin with extreme digital exclusion. In Bauchi, only two percent of women use a computer, while in Adamawa it is 3.2 percent, levels among the lowest globally. Internet access for women in many northern states remains under 10 percent, and in the Northeast and Northwest, just 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent of women have ever used a computer.
UNICEF says the consequences are catastrophic. Nigeria loses $11 billion annually due to the digital skills gap and unless urgent action is taken, the country could forfeit $15 billion per year in additional economic value by 2030, missing out on the global AI boom.
The crisis is amplified by weak school infrastructure, as fewer than 35 percent of schools have electricity; computer ratios are 61 students to one device and 96 to one in primary schools. Nigeria’s curriculum aspires to teach coding, robotics and AI, but many schools lack computers, internet or trained teachers.
“How do we teach AI when students cannot even turn on a computer? Digital literacy is not enough. What we need is digital competency, the ability to use digital tools efficiently to make a living?” asked Babagana Aminu, UNICEF education specialist.
The gendered dimension of the crisis is stark. In Northern Nigeria, 61 percent of fathers discourage daughters from using digital devices, UNICEF data show. Combined with near-zero digital access, girls are locked out long before they reach the job market.
Meanwhile, booming sectors such as fintech, software engineering, AI, clean energy and Nollywood are racing ahead, almost entirely without women.
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“This is a dramatic signal that the future economy is being built without women. Millions of girls are being trained for jobs that will not exist, while boys dominate the fast-growing economic sectors,” Aminu asserted.
Despite the urgency, the report shows that Ogun, Ondo, Kebbi and Zamfara had no dedicated budget lines for women in STEM education. This contradicts Nigeria’s national goal of raising female STEM graduates to 40 percent, a target seen as essential for future competitiveness.
Without specific funding, programmes remain fragmented, uncoordinated and unscalable, ensuring that women remain shut out of the very industries where global demand is strongest.
Bright spots: What Lagos, Kaduna and Cross River are doing right
The story is not entirely bleak, in that, some states are taking the initiative to change the narrative. For instance, Kaduna has trained 5,000 women and girls in AI, data science, cloud computing and digital entrepreneurship through the Arewa Ladies for Tech programme, a partnership with Data Science Nigeria and Google.org. It intentionally targets rural and semi-urban women, offering a model of inclusion other states have yet to replicate.
In Lagos, policy direction is clearer. The state has continues to lead Nigeria’s digital economy. With higher-than-average mobile and internet penetration for women, as well as large-scale digital-literacy programmes through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and partner organisations, Lagos demonstrates that consistent policy, infrastructure and partnerships can significantly reduce gender gaps.
“We have embedded digital learning into the school curriculum under governor Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES Agenda. Digital learning is no longer optional. It is the foundation for every child’s future,” said Martins Opeyemi, director at the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
In Cross River, though smaller, it scored green for supporting women in creative digital industries, demonstrating that political will, not population size, determines performance.
These three states offer a blueprint for the rest of the country, in areas like sustained investment, public-private partnerships and gender-targeted programmes.
UNICEF warns that failure to act could permanently lock Nigeria out of global AI value chains, with long-term economic losses that may be irreversible. But with 70 percent of the population under 25, Nigeria also holds one of the world’s greatest demographic opportunities, if it invests now.
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“This dialogue matters because Nigeria is the youngest country in Africa. Every young person is employable. Every adolescent can compete globally, if we give them the tools,” Aminu said.
The report encourages women’s participation in high-growth sectors like STEM, and the creative economy, adding that women remain underrepresented as only 30 percent of tech firm owners and 22 percent of STEM graduates are women due to limited access to digital tools, training, and opportunities.
Yet, the potential is massive. According to the WEE policy, the tech sector alone could generate over 10 million jobs and $7bn annually if inclusion is prioritized.
The goal is to raise female STEM graduates to 40 percent and expand women’s participation in ICT and creative industries by scaling access to digital skills, funding, and support systems that help women innovate, lead, and thrive in emerging spaces.
