Stakeholders seek legislation to boost investment
Some stakeholders in the impact investing space in Nigeria have called for legislation and policies to boost investment in underserved entities in the space.
This call was made at the official launch of the Sustainable Systems for Research and Innovation Financing project funded by FCDO’s Research and Innovation Systems in Africa on Tuesday in Lagos.
The project is aimed at building the capacity of enterprise support organisations, creating sustainable financing mechanisms for enterprise support and venture funds, establishing efficient linkages between businesses, investors, and transaction advisors and strengthening local ecosystems, research and institutional capacities.
Speaking at the event, Etemore Glover, the Chief Executive Officer of Impact Investors Foundation, which organised the event, said that the foundation was working with stakeholders to boost knowledge of the impact investing space.
“We are also working with policymakers through several capacity-building programs to increase the knowledge and awareness of impact investment. I’m glad to say we are partnering with the Nigeria philanthropy office on impact investments and we will be driving for legislation for impact investments in Nigeria.”
Echoing similar sentiments, the CEO of Muazu Africa, Tolulope Makinwa-Adeniyi, said, “We were trying to have a policy partner for social enterprises so that we can begin to push for tax incentives to attract impact investors. We need to pull in the capital. This is not just private capital, we need to pull in more capital. And I like to say that the most compelling impact investments are not found, they are made by every stakeholder; private public, by every stakeholder.
“We are pushing for legislation, pushing for reforms. Once we have reforms, and regulations, figured out, it makes things easier for us to bridge the gap (between early-stage enterprises and capital).”
Muazu Africa connects early-stage enterprises with capital, market and other needed resources.
The Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria, Charles Odii, in his comments, expressed commitment to SMEs in Nigeria.
He said, “The nano, micro small and medium enterprises are the backbone of our economy accounting for over 96 per cent of all businesses in Nigeria. For us at SMEDAN, we are committed to ensuring that these enterprises thrive and are committing to recognising the vital role that these small businesses play in our economic landscape and their contribution to our GDP.”
According to the United Nations, impact investing is the deployment of funds into investments that generate a measurable and beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return on investment.
