LAGOS TO HOST AFRICA SOCIAL IMPACT SUMMIT 2024

Lagos State has been confirmed as the Host City for the prestigious Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS) 2024, co-convened by Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations in Nigeria.

This partnership with the Lagos State Government, under the visionary leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is critical and further confirms the State’s disposition to be at the forefront of socio-economic transformation that seeks sustainable solutions, driven by multi-sectoral stakeholders, to various challenges confronting Nigeria and Africa.

Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade & Investment, Folashade Ambrose-Medebem disclosed this at a press conference to announce Lagos as the Host City of the Summit, themed: “Reimagining Progress: A New Blueprint for Sustainable Growth in Africa”, at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Center, Alausa, Ikeja today.

Speaking at the conference, the Commissioner described the Summit holding on the 25th and 26th of July 2024 at the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos as the largest in-person gathering of critical public, private, and development sector leaders across Africa to engage in Regional Inclusive Development Dialogues that aim to provide opportunities to the private sector and impact investors to shape market-led solutions and accelerate impact investment into Africa, towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.

Her words: “According to the United Nations (UN) Progress Report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Special Edition 2023, more than half of the world is being left behind. Progress on more than 50 per cent of targets of the SDGs is weak and insufficient and it has stalled or gone into reverse on 30 per cent. These include key targets on Poverty, Gender Equality, Hunger and Climate.

“The World Bank has also projected that Africa will be home to over 50 per cent of the world’s poorest people by 2030, which calls for concerted efforts and a clear roadmap to facilitating the investments and achieving the SDGs leveraging alliances with a priority focus on Education, Circular Economy, Health, Climate Solutions, Food Security and WASH, which will form the key thematic areas for discussion.

“We need to mobilise people and organisations as critical partners towards achieving the transformation and multifaceted solutions required to address the challenge. Transformational partnerships need multiple actors to bring together the resources, especially knowledge and data sharing, that can create the levers required to transform our societies from an unsustainable, undesirable state to one that is more sustainable and progressive.

While expressing gladness at the right given the State to host the Summit that aims to usher in ambitious actions to deliver the Goals, the Commissioner stated that the event will also review the transformative recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Decade of Action for accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and progress at this midpoint to the deadline for the 2030 Agenda because the Global Goals are our best hope for people, for planet, for prosperity, for peace and for partnerships.

 “The Summit will kick-off with an Investors Roundtable to be hosted by the Lagos State, along with a Social Enterprise Forum where business leaders, whose businesses are focused on social impact in the thematic sectors, can pitch their innovative solutions to potential investors and access funding to drive scale and accelerate impact. The Investors Roundtable is expected to deliver sustainable development, jobs and income generation, improvements in health and education, improved governance and transparency for the local businesses over time.

“Other activities include Panel Sessions on various thematic areas, Goodwill messages and keynote addresses, Country Showcases, Exclusive fireside chats, Social Investors Roundtable, Investment Deal Room, Entrepreneurship TED-styled talks and Pre and post-media events.

 “There will also be a tour of Lagos State’s notable investment destinations and tourist attractions to be facilitated by the State and an event round-off networking dinner at the Eko Atlantic City”, she said.

Also speaking at the briefing, Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju Ibekwe commended the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the State’s partnership which further confirms Lagos penchant for excellence.

She said the Summit, which is the third edition, has attracted over 8,000 development and sustainability leaders from across 66 countries of the world, while over 100 experts working across Africa as well as strategic impact investment partnerships were birthed in the Deal Rooms.

The Summit will be a hybrid event with the physical session held at the prestigious EKO Hotels & Suites, Lagos. Already on board as partners are the United Nations Global Compact Network Nigeria, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Sterling Bank, British Council, MTN Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, Nigeria and Microsoft, among others.