IIF Plans Forum to Unlock Institutional Capital for Nigeria’s Impact Economy

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A seminar is being planned by Impact Investors Foundation (IIF) to brainstorm on ways to unlock institutional capital for Nigeria’s impact economy.

The event, slated for November 25 and 26, 2026, in Lagos, will have in attendance investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs, development institutions, philanthropists, academics and other stakeholders.

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.

Nigeria has significant pools of institutional capital, including pension funds, insurance capital, sovereign vehicles, development finance, banks, endowments and wholesale investment structures, but only little is reaching businesses and sectors with the potential to drive inclusive growth.

The forum is part of activities to mark the organisation’s 9th Annual Convening on Impact Investing. The two-day summit will provide a platform for high-level discussions on the enabling market infrastructure, market conditions and investment conditions needed to increase institutional participation in Nigeria’s impact economy. It will also explore practical pathways for pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign vehicles, development finance institutions, banks, endowments and wholesale investment structures to play a greater role in financing Nigeria’s economy.

The programme will focus on strengthening policies for domestic capital mobilisation, improving investment strategies and deal structuring, building a stronger pipeline of investment-ready enterprises, and strengthening ecosystem capacity, transparency and impact standards.

A key component of the convening will be connecting investment-ready SMEs with institutional and impact investors through curated deal rooms. The event will also officially unveil the rebranded Nigerian Impact Economy Community (NIEC), bringing together public, private and development sector stakeholders around a shared agenda to advance Nigeria’s impact economy.

The convening will further create space for strategic discussions on climate resilience, the creative economy, investment strategies and readiness and use of Artificial Intelligence in ESG risk assessment among other important discourse critical to Nigeria’s sustainable economic transformation.

“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,” the chief executive of IIF, Ms Etemore Glover, said.

The Annual Convening on Impact Investing has, over the past eight years, provided a platform for stakeholders across Nigeria’s impact investing ecosystem to exchange ideas, share experiences and develop pathways for unlocking domestic capital for inclusive growth and sustainable development.

The event will also feature the 2026 IIF Annual Impact Investing Awards, which recognise organisations advancing impact investing and creating measurable social and environmental change. The awards include Impact Investor of the Year, Social Enterprise of the Year, and the Innocent Chukwuma Award for Social Impact.

Attendance is by paid registration with tickets available at https://bit.ly/ACII2026.