Leading impact investing organisations in Nigeria, Alitheia Capital and the Centre for Legal Support and Inmates Rehabilitation (CELSIR) have been announced as the winners of the two prestigious awards at the 2024 West Africa Deal Summit held in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Alitheia Capital won the Impact Investor of the Year 2024 award while CELSIR won the Innocent Chukwuma Award for Social Impact 2024.
The 2024 summit, which was the second edition in its series, was jointly held with the 7th Annual Convening by the Impact Investors Foundation (IIF) in Nigeria and Ghana, and featured the leading professionals and institutions in the impact investing ecosystem in Africa.
The summit themed “Actions to Deepen Catalytic Capital in West Africa” organised by the Impact Investors Foundation, Impact Investing Ghana alongside impact investing task forces in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire highlighted several priority actions in a joint statement issued at the event’s close.
Etemore Glover, Chief Executive Officer, Impact Investors Foundation (IIF), highlighted the collective commitment of WADS participants to accelerating efforts in building national and regional ecosystems that drive resilience and sustainable growth.
She said: “We, the impact investing community, commit to building national and regional ecosystems that foster sustainable growth and resilience. Catalytic capital, strong governance, regional collaboration, and innovative financing mechanisms are essential for leveraging West Africa’s potential.”
Key initiatives outlined in the joint statement include strengthening regional collaboration and knowledge exchange, mobilising local capital, encouraging innovation and collaboration for systemic change, strengthening good governance and capacity-building for MSMEs, and promoting data-driven design and execution. The summit closed with an invitation to the Africa Impact Summit 2025 scheduled for June 11-12, 2025, in Accra, Ghana.
The personalities that graced the occasion include Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos State, who was represented by Mosopefolu George, Honourable Commissioner, Economic, Planning and Budget; Ibukun Awosika, Vice Chair, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG), who also doubles as the Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing; Afolabi Oladele, Chair, Impact Investors Foundation, and Vice Chair, Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing; Etemore Glover, CEO, IIF; Amma Lartey, CEO, Impact Investing Ghana (IIGH); and Yacouba Ouedraogo, member, Burkina Faso Impact Investing Task Force, and co-founder, Africa Impact Investing Partnerships Centre.
Others included Thelma Ekiyor-Solanke, chairperson, The Nigeria Office for Philanthropy and Impact Investing; Mohammed Aliyu, Country Officer for Nigeria, International Finance Corporation (IFC); Gbenga Hassan, Managing Partner, Argentil Capital Management Limited; Abiodun Akinlawon, Deal Matchmaking Manager, Impact Investors Foundation; Jamie Proctor, Team Lead, West Africa Research and Innovation Hub (WARIH), FCDO; Landry Parkouda, Deal Matchmaking Manager, IIF; Benson Adenuga, Country Director, British International Investment (BII); Julius Lamptey, Senior Research and Policy Officer, Impact Investing Ghana; Bowel Diop, member, Senegal Impact investing Taskforce, and Dr Olu Ogunfowora, Managing Director, Ideanest Limited, among others.
The 2024 West Africa Deal Summit and the 7th Annual Convening on impact investing was the gathering for leaders in impact investing, philanthropic organisations, government representatives, and private sector players dedicated to driving catalytic capital for sustainable impact across West Africa.
“While we all share an instinctive ‘feeling’ of what is catalytic, perspectives vary about what qualifies. Depending on experience and focus, there is considerable divergence on its elements, questions such as the role of grants, the need for unlocking follow-on finance or whether non-financial capital could also be catalytic capital,” IIF Nigeria said while welcoming participants to this year’s summit.
“Such wide divergence of views made manifest the mistaken notion of a clear definition of catalytic capital amongst established players in a growing field (Impact investment globally has broken the trillion-dollar threshold),” IIF Nigeria, added.
Impact investing experts deliberated on the need for strong partnership and collaboration among African institutions within the impact ecosystem emphasising the need to boost local impact investing capital as this is necessary to show their level of seriousness and readiness for foreign partnerships.
While making a presentation on Context Mapping and Market Landscape for Catalytic Capital in Nigeria, Dr. Olu Ogunfowora said that given the development challenges Nigeria faces, catalytic investments are becoming an increasingly important form of capital that requires deliberate and accelerated consideration within Nigeria’s economic financing structure.
“Several startups and impact enterprises such as EdTech, AgriTech, HealthTech, and Renewable Energy among others are providing innovative solutions that will reach the underserved, unserved, marginalised, and vulnerable as well as rural people in Nigeria. However, they find it difficult to access conventional finance due to reasons such as lack of track record, high cost of financing (interest charge), high risk, etc,” Ogunfowora said.
He identified challenges facing catalytic capital deployment in Nigeria to include political and economic instability, regulatory environment, limited local impact investor and funding structures, as well as limited data, information and reporting.
Thelma Ekiyor-Solanke, chairperson, The Nigeria Office for Philanthropy and Impact Investing said until now, Nigeria did not have regulations governing philanthropy, noting that one of the tasks she took up in collaboration with IFC was to help educate Nigerian lawmakers on the need to develop relevant regulations for the impact investing ecosystem.
The high point of the programme was the announcement of winners for the different award categories.
Alitheia Capital won the Impact Investor of the Year 2024 award.
“As a pioneering private equity and financial advisory firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, Alitheia Capital is dedicated to identifying and investing in high-potential businesses across Africa. With a focus on impact investing, they are committed to generating measurable social and environmental benefits alongside financial returns,” IIF said.
Similarly, CELSIR won the Innocent Chukwuma Award for Social Impact 2024.
“CELSIR plays an instrumental role in addressing systemic challenges within Nigeria’s criminal justice system, focusing on providing essential legal support and rehabilitation services for inmates. Their impactful work fosters a more equitable, fair, and rehabilitative approach to justice, not only improving outcomes for inmates but also benefiting society by advocating for critical reforms that reduce recidivism and enhance the prison system overall,” IIF said.
