Experts urge African women to embrace self-evaluation, resilience for effective leadership

Leadership experts have urged African women to embrace self-evaluation, resilience and financial discipline as essential tools for effective leadership, entrepreneurship and personal development.

The call was made on Friday at the She Speaks Summit 2026, a three-day leadership conference convened by Prof. Joy Onyesoh in Enugu.

The summit, themed "Unlocking Potential, Achieving Excellence: A Transformational Leadership, Business and Personal Growth Experience for Women," attracted participants from across Nigeria, with resource persons from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the United States.

Delivering the keynote address on "Leveraging Leadership in Turbulent Times," Founder of the Global Female Civility Leadership Institute, USA, Prof. Ona Miller, identified five leadership anchors that she said would enable women to remain effective, resilient and grounded despite prevailing challenges.

According to Miller, the anchors are identity, intuition, resilience, community and purpose.

She described identity as the foundation upon which a woman's life and leadership are built, while intuition remained a unique strength women naturally possess.

Miller said resilience represented the ability to bend without breaking, community underscored the importance of collaboration and mentorship, while purpose served as the stabilising force that sustained leadership.

"African women must first learn to lead themselves through self-evaluation and self-assessment before they can effectively lead others," she said.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Scientia Partners Innovation Hub, Dr Helen Emore, stressed the importance of mastering personal and business finances as a prerequisite for building sustainable enterprises.

Emore said entrepreneurs must first understand their personal financial needs before designing business models, noting that personal financial stability often translated into better business decisions.

She advised participants to set clear financial goals, understand business cycles and pricing strategies, and ensure their enterprises aligned with their personal vision.

Speaking on legal business establishment and regulatory compliance, Managing Director of Dmessage Limited, Mr Shola Odeja, urged entrepreneurs to build businesses with long-term sustainability in mind.

Odeja said participants were taken through business registration procedures, compliance requirements under the Corporate and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), the Tax Act 2025 and other sector-specific regulations.

He warned that failure to comply with statutory obligations, including filing mandatory returns after the moratorium period, could attract penalties.

Earlier, the convener of the summit and Chief Executive Officer of Joy Onyesoh Coaching Consult, Prof. Joy Onyesoh, described the programme as a platform designed to equip women with the knowledge, practical strategies and networks required to excel.

She said the initiative sought to strengthen participants' personal capacity while providing tools to grow their organisations and businesses.

"The She Speaks Summit is a safe space where women come to reignite, refuel, build their personal capacity, acquire strategies and tools to grow their organisations or businesses, and engage in frank conversations," Onyesoh said.

According to her, the 2026 theme was inspired by the need for women to recognise, develop and maximise their God-given potential in pursuit of excellence.

She said the summit commenced on June 25 with a Leadership Mastery Class for VIP participants, focusing on strategy, influence and decision-making, while students also participated in dedicated leadership sessions.

She added that all the sessions were carefully designed to help women strengthen their businesses, build personal brands and realise their visions.

Onyesoh emphasised that genuine empowerment extended beyond financial support to creating opportunities through learning, networking and collaboration.

She said participants attended from different parts of Nigeria, while facilitators came from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the United States.

Reflecting on previous editions, Onyesoh said the summit had consistently recorded increased participation, fostered business growth, encouraged collaborations and inspired participants to replicate the knowledge acquired within their communities.

She urged Nigerian women to embrace lifelong learning and deliberately apply the knowledge and skills gained from the summit.

One of the participants, the Founder of the Centre for Leadership and Mentoring Initiative, Jos, Plateau State, said the knowledge acquired during the programme would be applied in her work and shared with others.

She commended Onyesoh for organising what she described as an impactful initiative that would contribute significantly to the personal and professional development of women.