‘Corporate Investing To Address Developmental Challenges’

Stakeholders in the public and private sectors have drawn attention to the crucial roles of corporate philanthropy and impact investing in addressing Nigeria’s developmental challenges.
They made this known at a webinar held yesterday, titled ‘Stimulating Corporate Philanthropy and Impact Investing for Job Creation in Nigeria’.

The event, hosted by the Nigeria Office for Philanthropy and Impact Investing (NPO) in collaboration with the Impact Investors Foundation (IIF) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), gathered industry leaders, policymakers, and private sector to discuss strategies for leveraging philanthropy and impact investing to create jobs and promote sustainable development in Nigeria.

The chairperson, Nigeria Office for Philanthropy and Impact Investing (NPO), Thelma Ekiyor-Solanke, said the event is an opportunity to share best practices on the role corporate philanthropy and impact investing play in driving positive societal change.

She said, “the insights from this webinar will be helpful for corporates seeking to be more effective in their giving and help them create a structure around their philanthropic initiatives.”

Drawing from his extensive experience, the keynote speaker, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, who is the chairman of Odua Investment Company, emphasised the need for more organisations that are on the sidelines of philanthropic investments to sufficiently engage their immediate and extended communities to address critical societal challenges.

Ashiru said, “corporate philanthropy and impact investing have the potential of becoming a more integral and impactful instrument for building a more sustainable society. Both have the capacity to improve national productivity one investment at a time, but more importantly they can catalyst the long-term growth of the economy and job creation.”

President and chairman of LCCI, Gabriel Idahosa called for an alignment of corporates’ philanthropic endeavours with strategic business objectives and the needs of local communities, in order to drive economic growth and corporate profitability.

He said, “we need the commitment of both public and private sectors to address the pressing issue of unemployment and empower our citizens with opportunities for more meaningful livelihoods.”

CEO of Impact Investors Foundation, Etemore Glover emphasised the need for inclusive investment and development, saying addressing these developmental issues demands investment and development that is inclusive, and this often extends beyond the capacity of governments to provide and achieve alone.

“This makes it necessary to leverage the contributions corporate philanthropy can make to investment and development in Nigeria,” Glover stated.

She further highlighted the strategic integration of philanthropy within the broader spectrum of impact capital, noting, “philanthropy is one of the spectrums of impact capital, and when it is well blended into impact capital, it will yield better capital flows for Nigeria.”