Nigeria requires the right policies that will drive private sector buy-in and unlock more private capital in impact investment, analysts said at the 5th Annual Convening on Impact Investing held in Lagos on Tuesday.
The analysts spoke on the backdrop of the key role that impact investment can play in achieving transition to cleaner energy and net zero emission in a just, equitable, sustainable and inclusive manner.
With impact capital in Nigeria valued at $4.7 billion, out of which the private sector contributes 20 per cent, they said more private capital can be unlocked.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Project Lead, Impact Investors Foundation (IIF), Maria Etemore Glover, said Nigeria requires policies to build the market framework and legitimise the impact investment space.
She said if the right policies are not in place, the private sector participants would not increase at the speed that is expected of them to deploy capital.
She, however, hinted that with efforts from IIF, which engages and collaborates with key stakeholders active in the impact investing space to unlock capital for social investments in Nigeria, there is a significant buy-in in the space, as more investors are getting interested in impact investment because there is no finance without discussions around sustainability and the bottom line.
Glover said IIF builds a strong impact investment ecosystem by working with various foundations and sectors, from investors across the various spaces including philanthropic spaces, development finance institution, institutional investors, among others.
Glover noted that forums like the one organised by IIF help bring the stakeholders together, identify challenges in the space and look at how to mobilize capital towards addressing them.
Every year, the Annual Convening on Impact Investing extends the frontiers of impact investing in Nigeria. By bringing together the widest range of impact investing stakeholders, it stimulates conversations, births solutions and culminates in the Annual Deal summit where impact investors meet social enterprises.
“This year, we are focusing on sustainability and just transition. This is so important and there are different aspects of sustainability. We see the flooding that is happening and people being displaced. How do we get the private sector involved?” Glover said.
“Everyone is talking about net zero and Nigeria has made a commitment towards the net zero. We hope to achieve net zero by 2060. $10 billion annually is needed to achieve net zero. Where is that going to come from? What is the annual budget?” she said.
