The official press conference for the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS 3.0) 2024, hosted by the Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations Nigeria, was held on Tuesday, July 9th, at the Lagos Oriental Hotel.
Present at the press conference were Olapeju Ibekwe, CEO, Sterling One Foundation; Mohammed M. Malick Fall, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, United Nations in Nigeria and Abubakar Suleiman, MD/CEO, Sterling Bank.
Others are Odunayo Sanya, Executive Director, MTN Foundation; Hauwa Adeeyo, Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investments, and Dr. Mories Atoki, CEO, ABC Health, among other key stakeholders and partners.
ASIS, which started in 2022, has grown into a significant platform for driving social impact across Africa. The summit aims to bring together various stakeholders from the public sector, private sector, and development ecosystem to create effective partnerships and advocate for impactful policies.
In her opening remarks, Olapeju Ibekwe, CEO, Sterling One Foundation, stated, “The Africa Social Impact Summit has three major goals: to galvanize 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. We are pleased to announce that over 40% of last year’s participants have received various levels of investment.
“One significant example is the MTN Foundation’s investment of over 3 billion Naira to support primary healthcare centers across the country in partnership with the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria. This year, we will host an investors roundtable on July 24th at the Eko Convention Centre as a pre-event engagement before the summit on July 25th and 26th.
“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.”
The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Assistant Secretary – General Mohammed highlighted the urgency of the summit’s goals, saying;
“We have discovered that we are behind on several indicators, and this comes at a time of numerous global challenges, including economic downturns.
“With only six years left to achieve the 2030 SDG targets, it is time to double our efforts. This gathering is crucial for galvanizing partnerships, as the SDGs are designed in such a way 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.”
Abubakar Sulieman, MD/CEO of Sterling Bank and member of the Board of Trustees for Sterling One Foundation, expressed confidence in the summit’s collaborative potential, stating;
“As I walked into this room, I realized that our collective effort can achieve our goals. The institutions represented here demonstrate that we are well on our way to success.
“At Sterling Bank, we have always believed in using our trusted position to solve problems by galvanizing 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.”
The Africa Social Impact Summit 2024 is crucial for sustainable growth across the continent. It 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,” underscores the need.
