Inaugural Gender Impact Investment Summit Outlines Immediate Actions to Bridge Financing Gap

Fadekemi Ajakaiye

The Impact Investors Foundation (IIF), Nigeria’s leading platform for unlocking impact capital, and the Nigeria National Board for Impact Investment, has successfully hosted the first Gender Impact Investment Summit on November 16, 2023, in Lagos.

The summit brought together over 300 stakeholders in the impact investing space including policymakers, investors, fund managers, and entrepreneurs to address the gender gap in accessing finance.

At the summit, vibrant panel discussions addressed barriers women face in impact investment and policies needed to unlock opportunities. Participants made commitments to reducing the gender financing gap in Nigeria while also proposing gender targets for investee companies, building pipelines of female fund managers, and actionable policies to streamline gender inclusion.

They also committed to creating opportunities for women to access finance, enhance the awareness of gender-lens investing, and expand networking and partnerships.

The Special Guest of Hounour and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Betta Edu, the Honourable Minister For Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, emphasised the need for gender lens investing and called for concrete steps to increase women’s participation across the impact investing value chains from asset owners to fund managers.

Edu, who was represented by the Carol Nelson-Atuonwo, Special Adviser (Strategy) to the Honourable Minister, said, “Closing the financial gap for women in Nigeria is achievable and will entail concerted efforts in policy making, capacity building on gender mainstreaming and continuous engagement with all actors and stakeholders with focus on tackling the root causes.”

In his welcome remarks, the Chair of Impact Investors Foundation (IIF) and Vice Chair for the Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing (NABII), Engr Afolabi Oladele, noted that there was a problem with widespread access to finance, especially for women in Northern Nigeria.

He said, “Women still struggle with baseline needs, particularly in the North and this affects the balance. Women generally earn less than men even when they do the same job as the men.”

Also speaking, the Chairperson for Nigerian NABII, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, called for gender inclusivity in boards of corporate organisations to drive profitability. 

In his goodwill remarks, Mr Tunde Mabawonku, Executive Director,  Retail and Digital Bank, Wema Bank , encouraged women at the event to make the right investment choice and be deliberate in their plans to succeed in their career and their businesses.

“The summit marks an important milestone in collectively addressing the $320 billion financing gap facing African female fund managers and entrepreneurs,” said IIF and NABII CEO, Ms Etemore Glover. “IIF remains committed to driving gender-inclusive practices in Nigeria’s impact investing ecosystem.”

While delivering a microtalk titled “The Nigerian NABII Agenda on Gender and Financing Women through the Wholesale Impact Investment Fund (WIIF)”, the Chair SME.NG/Member, Nigerian NABII,  Ms Thelma Ekiyor Olu-Solanke, said the WIIF was designed to address specific issues around building the ecosystem for impact financing in Nigeria. 

According to her, the Nigerian NABII is intentional about incorporating women-led impact projects and will support women in new and underserved markets.

“The Federal Government has committed 50% to the Fund. We are looking forward to reaching the $1 billion benchmark by the first quarter of 2024,” she added. 

Other speakers at the event include Managing Director and Co-Founder, Alithea Capital, Tokunboh Ishmael;   Gwen Abiola-Oloke, CEO, DI Africa; and Toni Sanni, Head of Corporate Finance and Venture Capital, Emerging Africa Group, among others.

IIF’s commitment to driving gender-inclusive practices in Nigeria’s impact investing ecosystem are important step towards bridging this gap and creating a more equitable future for all.

The Impact Investors Foundation (IIF) is a non-profit organisation founded by a partnership comprising the Ford Foundation, Bank of Industry (BOI), African Capital Alliance (ACA), BusinessDay Media Ltd and Dalberg Advisors. The mission of the alliance is to work with their stakeholders to reduce the barriers to impact investing in Nigeria so that more investors can be brought on board in finding solutions to the country’s major socio-economic and development problems. Our approaches include convening critical actors in government, private and social sectors; promoting innovative investment approaches and tools; building evidence on what works and doesn’t work; and leadership and collective actions. 

Since May 2020, the IIF has led the establishment of the National Advisory Board for Impact Investing (NABII) in Nigeria. It comprises 15 founding members who hold high-level leadership positions from the five pillars of the impact investing ecosystem, with Mrs Ibukun Awosika as the inaugural chairperson. The NABII is an influential cross-sector coalition of leaders united for the purpose to grow impact investment as a powerful force. The IIF Board provides governance to the body, and the management and staff of the IIF provide secretariat support to the NABII. 
The Nigerian NABII was established to catalyse and promote a dynamic ecosystem for impact investing in Nigeria, driving economic growth and improving quality of life in an inclusive and sustainable manner through increasing impact investment flow and sector diversification in alignment with key SDGs. The NABII is transforming the Nigerian investment landscape by fostering a sustainable and equitable economy through various initiatives. The NABII is implemented as an initiative of the Impact Investors Foundation. The Nigerian NABII is one of the 36 National Advisory Boards for Impact Investing spread across 41 countries under the aegis of the Global Steering Group forImpact Investment (GSG).