Olori Atuwatse III Champions Warri Women's Growth and Exposure by Sponsoring 140 EstablishHER Entrepreneurs to RECAP 2026 Conference

Her Royal Majesty, Olori Atuwatse III, Queen Consort of Warri Kingdom, on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, served as Conference Chairperson at the 2026 edition of the RECAP Conference of The Business Women Conference, held in Warri, Nigeria, where she also sponsored 140 women from Cohort 1 of the EstablishHER Entrepreneurship Fund to participate in the largest gathering of working women across the South-South region.

The conference, themed Reflect. Relearn. Rise., convened by co-founders Mrs Doubra Emein, Mrs Ufuoma Ogbo, and Princess Onome Akpobaro, brought together the likes of Dr Ibukun Awosika, Mrs Tara Fela-Durotoye, Mrs Ekene Onu, the First Lady of Delta State (represented by Honourable Orode Uduaghan), Honourable Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Community Support Services, and Girl Child Development, Mrs Marilyn Okowa-Daramola, and Dr Emmanuel Emefienim, CON, Chief Executive Officer of PremiumTrust Bank, alongside women leaders and professionals from across Nigeria and the diaspora, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and Guinea.

Her Majesty's contribution as a key sponsor executed through the Royal Iwere Foundation (RIF), the humanitarian arm of the Warri Kingdom Monarchy, reaffirmed the crown's commitment to granting global access and financial agency to women entrepreneurs, particularly those operating within underserved communities across Delta State and the wider South-South region.

EstablishHER Entrepreneurship Fund is the flagship women's empowerment programme of the Royal Iwere Foundation. Designed as a six-month capacity-building academy, it enables underserved petty traders to transition into small and medium-scale entrepreneurship by combining zero-to-low interest financing, structured training, mentorship, and market access.

To date, EstablishHER has impacted over 5,550 women and supported more than 1,700 businesses across multiple communities, equipping participants to build resilient enterprises across sectors including trade, agribusiness, creative services, fashion, food processing, and digital commerce.

Structured across four progressive phases, EstablishHER begins with psychological and identity reformation, trauma healing, purpose alignment, and legacy thinking before advancing into business and digital skills development, financial management, branding, and leadership training. Participants are then connected to capital, mentorship networks, and growth opportunities, and sustained through an alumni ecosystem focused on scale, resilience, and continuous learning.

In her address as Conference Chairperson, Her Royal Majesty spoke candidly on the power of reflection, exposure, and inner transformation as foundations for sustainable leadership. Drawing from her personal journey, she encouraged women to embrace reflection not as weakness, but as a source of clarity, healing, and strength, noting that growth often begins long before titles, milestones, or public success.

Her remarks resonated deeply with attendees, reinforcing the conference theme and affirming the importance of safe, intentional spaces where women can learn, unlearn, and rise together.

For the 140 EstablishHER women in attendance, the conference provided more than learning. It offered access to broader ecosystems, mentorship, and role models, reinforcing confidence, ambition, and perception. The experience aligned closely with EstablishHER's emphasis on exposure as a critical complement to education and capital.

Joshua Eze, Project Lead for EstablishHER at the Royal Iwere Foundation, reflected on the significance of the sponsorship and participation: "This is about access. Her Majesty is intentionally positioning these women in rooms where networks are built, and perspectives are expanded. Exposure is the next best thing to education. It strengthens mentorship, reshapes self-belief, and allows women to see models of what they can become beyond their immediate environments."

Participation in RECAP 2026 marks another milestone in the EstablishHER journey, reinforcing the Royal Iwere Foundation's people-centered development philosophy that prioritizes long-term empowerment over short-term intervention. For many of the beneficiaries in attendance, the conference marked a defining moment of renewal, clarity, and expanded vision, with many describing the experience as transformational, citing access to global-standard conversations, exposure to role models they had long admired, and insights that reshaped both personal confidence and business direction.

By investing in skills, capital, mentorship, and exposure, the Foundation continues to build pathways that enable women not only to start businesses but to sustain, scale, and lead with confidence and dignity.

For partnerships and programme enquiries: operations@rif.ng