As the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child, the Director General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Chinyere Almona, says the foundation of the confidence and ambition she built was laid early in her life by her parents who believed education had no gender and encouraged their daughters to dream as boldly as their sons. That conviction guided her rise to the top of Nigeria’s business community and shaped her advocacy for women’s empowerment and inclusion. Yet, beyond her professional success, Almona remains refreshingly honest about life’s balance, insisting that the superwoman exists only in comics, not in real life. In this conversation with Dike Onwuamaeze, she speaks about leadership, family, mentorship, and why empowering the girl-child today is crucial for building a fairer, stronger, and more prosperous Nigeria
As we mark the International Day of the girl-child today, what does this year’s theme mean to you personally and professionally?
The theme for this year is “The Girl I am, the Change I Need, and Girls on the Front Lines of Crises.” That theme resonates with me as a female and as a leader. It does portray the fact that the future is not something we wait for but something that we have to intentionally create. And personally, it reinforces my lifelong ambition or passion to mentor young women, encourage them, and challenge them to be who they are meant to be. At a professional angle as well, it challenges me as the head of the chamber to ensure that we have policies that will encourage female participation in the workplace and also create the right environment for girls to take leadership positions.
You have built an impressive career in leadership and policy. What early experiences shaped your confidence and ambition as a young girl?
My parents were educators. My mum and dad were lecturers and they did not believe that education was gendered. So, both males and females were treated the same way when it came to building our skills, confidence and dreams. That, for me, was the backbone of who I am today. They encouraged me to ask questions. They did not stop me from aspiring for big things because you are a woman. For me that was my childhood and upbringing that helped me build my confidence as a leader.
Many girls in Nigeria face barriers to quality education. What specific interventions do you think can make the biggest difference in bridging this gap?
I can think of three quick things. One is access to finance. If you want girls to go to school you have to remove the financial barriers. That will mean that some of these schemes like education loan should be implemented more broadly so that we can have real tangible results and it should also be inclusive. Sometimes when a household is faced with little finance it begins to prioritise who should go to school and who should not go. I also think that we need to make the school environment conducive for women. It should be free from gender based violence. The environment should be safe. We should also have female friendly sanitation facilities. Thirdly, we need to think how to integrate digital education and vocational skills early enough at primary and secondary school levels so that people can grow with it. That is developing girls not just for work place but giving them live skills.
How can institutions like the LCCI play a role in empowering the girl-child beyond corporate social responsibility?
Corporate social responsibility is a viable way to do it. But beyond CRS such development needs to be more systemic and that is where we come in as LCCI because we advocate for inclusive economic policies and we also drive mentorships through different things that we do. We also have essay competitions that over the years have seen girls emerge from that space. So, initiatives that we do are pretty much trying to make it more systemic to encourage girls and create more opportunities for them.
What advice would you give to young girls aspiring to leadership in business, public service, or entrepreneurship in today’s Nigeria?
Dream big! Dream! Dream! Dream! And do not stop dreaming. Secondly, is that they should not be afraid of who they are. A lot of girls have the skills and power to do so much but they are curtailed by culture and even religion. And I will like to say to girls: build your skills because you have to present something to the world. Let their passions drive skill development. They should not feel that they are entitled to be helped because they are girls. They need to understand that they have to add value wherever they are. Leadership is a responsibility and not a title and girls must understand that early enough.
Women contribute significantly to Nigeria’s informal economy, yet many lack access to finance. What practical steps can be taken to close this gender financing gap?
Over the years I have found out, as I have worked in different institutions like the PwC and The World Bank and so I understand the importance of bridging this gap. I have also as the director general of LCCI have continued to work with development institutions to see how we can remove the gender limitation in financing. We need to get our financial institutions to understand that lending to women is different to lending to men. In some communities women do not have access to land. An institution that lends based on land as collateral probably does not want to lend to women. So, we need to figure out how to lend to women. There are so many dynamic ways to lend to women like using cash flow to lend. Institutions have to be intentional on how to lend to women. Institutions have to embrace doing more for women.
In your view, how does empowering the girl-child today influence Nigeria’s economic trajectory over the next two decades?
They say that if you do not start, you will never start. So, this is the time when we should be putting the building blocks in space for what we want to see in the next two decades. The girl child you are building today, who may be 10 years should be 30 years in the next two decades and should be contributing significantly to the economy. If you do not build her today, you will lose her contributions in the future. The reality is that if we can empower the girl child to know what she is worth and what he can deliver and give her the right skills and the right tools, then you are preparing for a buoyant economy in the future.
What role do you think financial literacy and entrepreneurship play in helping young women escape the cycle of poverty and dependency?
Financial literacy basically is to give one the skills or the understanding of finance and how to manage money so that you can make informed decisions around money. Entrepreneurship on the other hand, helps you to translate your skills and ideas into wealth. Some people can make money but do not know how to manage it.
As head of LCCI, what initiatives is the Chamber driving to support female entrepreneurs and promote inclusion in business leadership?
In the chamber, we have the women’s group. The idea is that we want to spotlight women in business and give them a voice for advocacy and capacity building. Two years ago, we had seminars and conferences to encourage women. There is one we did on how to stop the marriage of the girl child. It is important for us as an organisation to continue to contribute to these conversations because the more you speak about them the more these issues come to the fore and can be dealt with. But nobody pays attention to them when you shy away from speaking about them. So the women group here is vibrant. And beyond the women group, other sectors work hard to ensure that there is proper inclusion that women are considered in the leadership of the excutives of the different sectorial groups that operate within the chamber.
You’ve achieved remarkable success in a demanding field. How do you personally balance leadership, family, and self-care?
As a woman, I have realised that the superwoman is only in the comics or in Nollywood but not in real life. So, women have to understand where their limitations are, where they need to leverage their community, family, and rely on other people to do certain things. You need to be clear about what you need to do and what you need to achieve, and how you get there. But remember that you have to have a framework and support system. And that support system is not just those who are supporting you but you should also support others in different phases. It should be give and take because that is how a support system works. For me, being able to manage my work life and every other thing is to keep a vibrant support system.
Many working mothers struggle with burnout. What lessons have you learnt about maintaining emotional balance?
The lesson is that you cannot pour from an empty cup. You have to first take care of yourself, including your mental well-being, before taking care of others. If you do not take care of yourself, you will not be able to take care of others. Once you understand that you prioritise your own self-care because that is what is required to be a leverage point for you to effectively take care of your family.
Finally, what would you say to a 10-year-old Nigerian girl today who dreams of breaking barriers but feels unseen or unheard?
I will say to her: Young girl, keep dreaming. You are seen. You just feel unseen, but people are seeing you. Keep doing what you are doing and keep speaking. Do not stop. Do not let people dampen your dream. Do not let people cover you up. Speak for yourself and the passion you are carrying. You are unique in yourself, and what you have no person has it. So, you must be able to give the gift of yourself to the world. Keep dreaming. Be ambitious. Expand and build skills. Start from where you are and build up.
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