Skip to content
Her Biz Makeover
Two women examine packaged goods beside stocked shelves in a Lagos mini-mart

Her Biz Makeover was built around a simple frustration: Nigeria celebrates women entrepreneurs constantly, and structurally supports them rarely.

Photo: Ninthgrid, Pexels

To grow promising businesses into vibrant and scalable industries.

Most interventions pick a lane. A grant scheme moves money and hopes capability follows. A training programme builds skills and leaves the founder with no new customers. A media feature creates a spike of attention that fades in a fortnight.

Her Biz Makeover refuses the choice. A business that finishes this journey should have a clearer strategy, cleaner numbers, a wider audience and a network of people who will take her call, not one of the four.

That is what "brace to scale" means. Bracing is the unglamorous structural work that has to happen before growth stops being dangerous.

Four steps of reasoning

  1. The observation

    Women run roughly four in ten Nigerian MSMEs and receive a fraction of the structured support.

  2. The diagnosis

    The gap is not ambition or capability. It is finance, visibility, capability development and networks, all four at once.

  3. The design

    A journey rather than an event: discovery, development, showcase, then membership that outlasts the season.

  4. The intent

    Not one winner and 1,999 disappointments. Value extracted at every tier of the funnel.

Two colleagues in a Lagos workspace review work together on a laptop

Inspiration is cheap. Infrastructure is the point.

Portrait of Akinbowale Alabi, Founder and Convener of Her Biz Makeover

A note from the founder

“I have sat in too many rooms where a woman explained her business better than anyone in the room could have, and left with nothing but applause.”

We are building the thing that should have been there, a route from the shop floor to the national stage that does not depend on who you happen to know.

If you run a business and you have felt invisible, this platform was designed with you specifically in mind. Come and be seen.

Akinbowale Alabi

Founder & Convener

Her Biz Makeover, Lagos

The people running the platform

Portrait of Akinbowale Alabi

Akinbowale Alabi

Project Director, HerBiz Makeover

For over 20 years, Akinbowale Alabi has dedicated his career to building people and businesses. From leading not-for-profit organisations to authoring books on human capacity development, and driving growth in manufacturing, sales and training, his work has always been about unlocking potential.

He also championed the BNGP digital commerce sector in Nigeria through Zoomba, Nigeria's first BNGP e-commerce platform. Today, as Project Director of HerBiz Makeover, he is on a mission to give women entrepreneurs the spotlight, tools and capital they need to thrive.

Portrait of Omowunmi A. Dan-Okayi

Omowunmi A. Dan-Okayi

Director, Corporate Relations & Commercials

A business management and communications professional with 10+ years of experience across media, oil and gas logistics, and business operations. Former Branch Manager at Enviable Transport, where she grew revenue by 100% and expanded corporate clientele.

Currently Portfolio Manager, Enviable Tricycle & Auto Parts, driving partnerships and revenue growth. B.Sc. Mass Communication, Covenant University.

Counsel from people who have built

Portrait of Kwami Adadevoh

Kwami Adadevoh

Chairman, HBM Advisory Board

Investor · Entrepreneur · Institution Builder

Kwami Adadevoh is a Nigerian investor and entrepreneur whose work sits at the intersection of capital, enterprise, and economic development.

With strategic interests spanning financial services, real estate, infrastructure, housing finance, and capital markets, he focuses on scaling high-potential businesses and assets in Nigeria and across Africa, building the structures that attract long-term domestic and international capital.

He approaches capital not just as return, but as a tool for building institutions, from private ventures to publicly scalable enterprises.

As Chairman of the HBM Advisory Board, he brings deep expertise in capital mobilisation, corporate strategy, and institutional development to guide Her Biz Makeover’s vision of turning 10,000 women-led MSMEs into enduring, fundable institutions.

Investment philosophy: Not just what can generate a return, but what can be built, capitalised, and scaled into an institution of lasting value.

Portrait of Bunmi Ajani Lawson

Bunmi Ajani Lawson

Advisory Board Member

Pioneer Managing Director/CEO of Accion Microfinance Bank, which she led from inception in 2007 with one branch and 18 staff to a national microfinance bank with 62 branches, over 259,000 customers and 1,000+ staff by 2017. Under her leadership, Accion became one of Nigeria's top 5 microfinance banks, profitable within its first 12 months and consistently ranked No.1 in Return on Equity.

She holds an MBA from IESE Business School, Spain, is a Fellow of ICAN and several other professional institutes, and an alumna of Harvard Business School, INSEAD and Lagos Business School. She is a renowned speaker on SME financing and women entrepreneurship.

Portrait of Dr. Sola Adeyiga

Dr. Sola Adeyiga

Advisory Board Member

SME Finance · Credit & Risk Management · Corporate Governance · Business Growth Strategy

Dr. Sola Adeyiga is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a Fellow of the National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA), and holds a Doctor of Business Administration from Rome Business School. He is an alumnus of the Executive MBA Programme at Lagos Business School (2008/09).

With over 22 years in banking and finance, he began his career at NAL Bank Plc and later Skye Bank Plc, with cross-functional experience spanning e-Business, branch and treasury operations, capital markets, information technology, business solutions, and credit management.

A consummate entrepreneur and financial strategist, he has founded and led successful ventures across logistics management, manufacturing, training and consulting, and real estate. He has trained, mentored, and nurtured hundreds of SME owners, helping them strengthen corporate governance, improve profitability, and achieve sustainable growth.

He is the Founder and CEO of CreditPRO Business Support Services, a leading SME-focused business advisory and a CBN-licensed Microfinance Bank dedicated to unlocking access to finance and capacity for MSMEs in Nigeria.

At HerBiz Makeover he brings deep expertise in SME finance, credit and risk management, corporate governance, and business growth strategy, to guide 10,000 women-led businesses towards bankability and scale.

Portrait of Ayo Olesin

Ayo Olesin

Advisory Board Member

A seasoned business journalist and public policy analyst with special interests in financial markets, energy, the real sector and MSMEs. Formerly Group Business Editor at The Punch, Deputy Editor (Business) at National Mirror and Editor of Sunday Mirror.

He is the Publisher of The NewsMatrics and CEO of Mediamatrics Limited, a media strategy and PR consultancy, and a Visiting Member of The Punch Editorial Board. A member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, and an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.

Portrait of Ezinne Kufre-Ekanem

Ezinne Kufre-Ekanem

Member, HBM Advisory Board & Judges Panel

Entrepreneur · Broadcaster · Author · Women’s Development Advocate

Ezinne Kufre-Ekanem is a Nigerian entrepreneur and advocate for women’s development with over 20 years of experience building businesses and platforms that enable women to grow, lead, and create impact.

She is the Founder of Rosemary’s, The Soft Furnishing Company (est. 2003), a reputable Nigerian enterprise serving clients across Nigeria and beyond, giving her first-hand experience of building, sustaining, and scaling a business in Nigeria.

She is also the Founder of UpYouWomen Empowerment Foundation, which equips women with capacity, confidence and opportunities through mentorship, training, and the annual UpYouWomen Conference. She is the creator and host of UpYou With Ezinne, a multi-platform broadcast on TV, radio, YouTube and social media.

Ezinne’s work sits at the intersection of enterprise, media, leadership, and women’s advancement, with a strong focus on moving women beyond inspiration into capacity, enterprise, and sustainable impact.

As a member of the HerBiz Makeover Advisory Board, she brings the lived perspective of an entrepreneur, the storytelling power of a broadcaster, and the commitment of a founder dedicated to ensuring women-led businesses are not just celebrated, but equipped to become stronger, more sustainable, and fundable.

Reserved seats

Technical Partner's Rep

Nominee to be announced

This Advisory Board seat is held for a representative nominated by a partner.

Commercial Partner's Rep 1

Nominee to be announced

This Advisory Board seat is held for a representative nominated by a partner.

Commercial Partner's Rep 2

Nominee to be announced

This Advisory Board seat is held for a representative nominated by a partner.

Commercial Partner's Rep 3

Nominee to be announced

This Advisory Board seat is held for a representative nominated by a partner.

Four pillars

Discovery

Find businesses where they actually are, markets, estates, workshops, not only where forms are easy to fill.

Development

Teach the unglamorous things: pricing, margin, cash cycles, systems that survive the founder taking a week off.

Visibility

Put businesses in front of a national audience. Distribution is the scarcest thing a small business lacks.

Growth

Measure success in orders, hires and staying power. Not in attendance figures.

Register interestSee the programme

Photo credits

Team and advisory portraits are supplied by Her Biz Makeover, except Bunmi Lawson’s portrait, sourced from her interview in The Fintech Times. Atmosphere photographs and the homepage film are used under the Unsplash and Pexels licences; the people in them are not programme founders, judges, mentors or partners.