The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, has highlighted private capital as a veritable source of funding to enable the scaling of sustainable climate solutions.
Bagudu said this on Thursday at the opening of the 2025 Africa Social Impact Summit convened by Sterling One Foundation, the United Nations in Nigeria, and the ministry in Lagos under the theme ‘Scaling Action: Bold Solutions for Climate Resilience and Policy Innovation.’
According to S&P, private capital refers to debt and equity investments in privately owned companies, as opposed to assets traded publicly, such as stock exchanges, the bond market, and commodities markets. Private markets allow investors to put money into private companies in the form of private debt or private equity or into real assets such as infrastructure, natural resources, or real estate.
The Minister, who was represented by his Special Adviser, Bolaji Onalaja, said, “One of the most critical barriers to scaling climate solutions is access to sustainable and long-term financing. Traditional funding sources alone cannot meet the scale of investment required to build resilience across our communities and the country. Recognising this, the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is working to foster an enabling environment for innovative financing, particularly through the growth of Nigeria’s impact investment ecosystem.
“This includes support for mechanisms to attract private capital into these areas.
Private capital is what we need to scale the solutions that we see and that the Federal Government and governments at large need to create. This is state and federal—an enabling environment for that private capital to flow. So, you know, while these efforts are maturing across the country, you know, it reflects a clear intent to unlock resources that deliver not just economic returns but measurable benefits to our people. So that’s why platforms like this, like the Africa Social Impact Summit, are critical and vital.”
While highlighting the role of private capital, Bagudu added that scaling action requires more than policies and funding.
“It demands collaboration across governments, the private sector, development partners, and civil society, and all these stakeholders need to work together and co-create solutions that are locally rooted and scalable and inclusive. It’s when that collaboration comes from all partners within the ecosystems that you see the outcomes that you really ought to have. So, you know, we need to forge partnerships here and turn pilot projects into national programmes, small successes into transformative systems. The path to climate resilience is challenging, but it is one we must walk on together,” he said.
In her opening remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju Ibekwe, said that having the right executive team was key to scaling.
“Against the backdrop of the global headwinds, there is no better time than now for different people to come together to put into action partnerships for the SD goals. Today, I am proud that this platform started with eight partners; today, four years down the line, we have 61 partners. The theme of this year’s convening is Scaling Action: Bold Solutions for Climate Resilience and Policy Innovation. At the core is scaling action. For you to scale action, you need the right people, you need the right resources, you need to articulate the right policies, and you need the right execution team,” she said.
Ibekwe, who reeled out some of the impact of last year’s summit, said that aside from driving multi-sectoral partnerships for the acceleration of the SDGs and the African Union Agenda 2063 and attracting impact investments into scalable solutions that are delivering value, the ASIS was keen on policy advocacy.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re very glad that the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is joining us this year. Our conversations are going to transform not just Nigeria but the continent of Africa because we do not just talk here. From last year’s convening alone, Wema Bank signed a partnership with the Katsina State Government to train 500,000 youth in the state. EHA Clinics signed a partnership with the Katsina State Government for them to build a digital record system in the health system in Katsina State. Woodhall Capital signed a partnership with the Nigeria Governors Forum to raise funds for the 36 states of Nigeria.
“These are just a few of the partnerships that were granted here. So, I encourage everyone to get ready to identify your partners for you to scale whatever it is you’re doing to accelerate the SDGs. This is a social impact marketplace. This is your opportunity to scale the work you are doing to transform your society,” she said.
In his comments, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, also charged the attendees at the summit to identify their partners and take bold steps.
“Success would be for every single one of the supporters, those who backed this summit, to sign some agreement today or tomorrow or later by the weekend. If you go through this summit and you don’t come out with a relationship, an agreement, an MoU, or something that means that how you execute going forward is different fundamentally, then you haven’t taken a bold step. So, I call on everyone to please let us think about bold in bold terms. Let us think about bold in terms of doing things that are at least twice the scale of what you did last year,” Suleiman said.
