The Impact Investors Foundation (IIF) is moving to unlock Nigeria’s huge pool of pension, insurance and other institutional funds for businesses capable of driving economic growth, job creation and social impact, as it convenes investors and policymakers in Lagos in November.
The two-day forum, scheduled for November 25 and 26 under the theme, ‘Unlocking Institutional Capital for Nigeria’s Impact Economy,’ will seek practical ways to channel more domestic institutional capital into investment-ready enterprises and sectors with the potential to deliver inclusive and sustainable growth.
The theme, Unlocking Institutional Capital for Nigeria’s Impact Economy, will focus on one of the key challenges facing Nigeria’s impact investing market, which is the limited participation of large domestic institutional investors in financing investment-ready enterprises, IIF, Nigeria’s leading platform for unlocking impact capital, said in a statement.
According to IIF, the forum will address one of the major challenges confronting Nigeria’s impact investing market-the limited participation of large domestic institutional investors in financing investment-ready enterprises capable of driving inclusive economic growth.
The foundation said Nigeria has significant pools of institutional capital, including pension funds, insurance funds, sovereign investment vehicles, development finance, banks, endowments and wholesale investment structures. However, only a small proportion of these funds is currently reaching businesses and sectors with the potential to generate significant social, economic and environmental impact.
The forum is part of activities marking the organisation’s ninth Annual Convening on Impact Investing and will focus on the policies, market infrastructure and investment conditions required to deepen institutional participation in the impact economy.
It will also examine practical pathways through which pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign vehicles, development finance institutions, banks, endowments and wholesale investment structures can play a greater role in financing businesses and sectors critical to Nigeria’s economic transformation.
The programme will focus on strengthening policies for domestic capital mobilisation, improving investment strategies and deal structuring, developing a stronger pipeline of investment-ready enterprises, and building ecosystem capacity through greater transparency and stronger impact standards.
A key feature of the convening will be curated deal rooms designed to connect investment-ready small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with institutional and impact investors.
The event will also formally unveil the rebranded Nigerian Impact Economy Community (NIEC), bringing together public, private and development-sector stakeholders around a common agenda for advancing Nigeria’s impact economy.
Other discussions will focus on climate resilience, the creative economy, investment strategies and readiness, as well as the use of artificial intelligence in environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk assessment.
Chief Executive Officer, IIF, Ms Etemore Glover, said the scale of Nigeria’s development challenges required deeper participation by institutional investors in financing the real economy.
‘In recent times, we have engaged in serious conversations on how institutional capital can contribute significantly to the real economy and foster socioeconomic and environmental development in Nigeria. We must admit that some progress has been made.
‘However, is it enough, given the scale of development challenges relative to the opportunities present in a country as large as ours? This year’s annual convening on Impact Investing will bring institutional investors into the room as partners in designing a stronger impact economy for Nigeria,’ Glover said.
The Annual Convening on Impact Investing has, over the past eight years, provided a platform for stakeholders in Nigeria’s impact investing ecosystem to exchange ideas, share experiences and develop strategies for unlocking domestic capital for inclusive growth and sustainable development.
The 2026 convening will also feature the IIF Annual Impact Investing Awards, which recognise organisations and individuals contributing to measurable social and environmental change through impact investing.
The awards include Impact Investor of the Year, Social Enterprise of the Year and the Innocent Chukwuma Award for Social Impact.