Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations in Nigeria are set to convene the third edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit at the Eko Convention Center on July 25 and 26, 2024.
This was revealed at the official press conference for the Africa Social Impact Summit 2024 held in Lagos yesterday.
The co-conveners also unveiled partners for the summit, some of whom include the Lagos State Government, the host city partner, MTN Foundation, ABC Health, Oando Foundation, Impact Investors Foundation, Nigerian Climate Innovation Centre, and LBS Sustainability Centre.
Olapeju Ibekwe, CEO Sterling One Foundation, stated that over 40 percent of participants at the second edition of the summit in 2023 received investments from various partners, which aligns with the summit’s goals.
“The Africa Social Impact Summit has three major goals: to galvanise effective partnerships across the public sector, private sector, and the development ecosystem; to advocate for policies that will attract investments in major development sectors; and to ensure impactful investments in those sectors.”
“One significant success story is the MTN Foundation’s investment of over 3 billion Naira to support primary healthcare centres across the country in partnership with the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria,” she said.
She also stated that Sterling One Foundation will host an investors roundtable on July 24 at the Eko Convention Centre as a pre-event engagement before the summit.
“We invite stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and representatives from the private and public sectors, to join us in reimagining progress and designing a new blueprint for sustainable growth in Africa,” she said.
Mohammed Malick Fall, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria stated that it is time to double the efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with just six years left to the 2030 target.
“We have discovered that we are behind on several indicators, and it comes at a time of numerous global challenges, including economic downturns. This gathering is crucial for galvanising partnerships, as the SDGs are designed so that no single sector or entity can meet these goals alone.”
The theme of this year’s summit, ‘Reimagining Progress: A New Blueprint for Sustainable Growth in Africa,’ resonates deeply with the UN, prompting us to support and partner with the Sterling One Foundation in co-convening ASIS 2024,” he said.
Abubakar Sulieman, MD/CEO of Sterling Bank, said, “As I walked into this room, I realised that our collective effort can achieve our goals. The institutions represented here demonstrate that we are on our way to success.”
“At Sterling Bank, we have always believed in using our trusted position to solve problems by galvanising partnerships. In the social impact scene, we are many but often weak due to being distributed and disconnected. Size matters and the beauty of what we do at Sterling One Foundation is our willingness to partner, co-convening with the United Nations,” he stated.
The Africa Social Impact Summit aims to address pressing issues through innovative solutions and strategic partnerships. This year’s theme, “Reimagining Progress: A New Blueprint for Sustainable Growth in Africa,” highlights the need for collaborative efforts to tackle Africa’s development challenges.
