Arewa’s story
Through our Road to Growth programme, Arewa developed a framework for planning her business and grew her network to include like-minded women in her community.

The growth of my business has had a tremendous impact on the people around me.
My name is Arewa Tobiloba, I am the only woman in my family because my parents separated when I was three. I started my entrepreneurship journey back when I was in university as a way to get an extra income.
My business is a textile design business called Adire World. We started in 2016 and we design fabric patterns. We work with fashion designers and individuals to create custom prints. We also create custom prints which we sell online. I started my business as a result of my love for art and fashion.
One of the major challenges of being an entrepreneur in Nigeria, especially being a woman in my field, is the belief that men are supposed to be the creative designers and women are not. Also, generally, there’s gender inequality in the entrepreneurship space in Nigeria.
One of the things I’ll say that makes it harder for a woman than a man to grow their business is the emotional “double burden”. Growing up as the only woman at home, I had to do all the chores and also run my business, unlike men, who can often solely focus on their business.


Find out more about Road to Growth in Nigeria
Road to Growth is one of the Foundation’s five flagship programmes. It is highly scalable and adaptable. The Foundation is actively seeking funding partnerships to enable the programme to launch in, but not limited, to Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique, with each iteration carefully adapted for a local context. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss potential partnerships!

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