Lagos Unveils Invest Lagos 2.0 to Drive Bold Investments and 21st-Century Economic Growth
With focus on infrastructure, innovation, and impact finance, Lagos State and Sterling One Foundation target catalytic partnerships to transform Africa’s commercial capital into a global economic powerhouse
The Lagos State Government, in partnership with the Sterling One Foundation, has announced the Invest Lagos 2.0 Summit, a high-level investment and development forum aimed at unlocking new pathways to sustainable, inclusive growth.
Slated for July 9–11, 2025, at Eko Hotels and Suites, the Summit is designed to convene global investors, policymakers, development finance institutions (DFIs), and industry leaders to deepen collaboration and drive Lagos toward its ambition of becoming Africa’s first truly 21st-century economy.
Themed “Scaling Action: Bold Solutions Towards Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy”, this year’s edition builds on the momentum of the 2024 summit, which reportedly raised over $100 million in impact investment, while signaling a deliberate shift from dialogue to execution.
Development Strategy Rooted in Vision and Policy Alignment
Speaking at the pre-event briefing, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose, Lagos Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, affirmed that Invest Lagos 2.0 is a strategic extension of the Sanwo-Olu administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S+ Agenda and aligns with the long-term Lagos State Development Plan (LSDP 2052).
She noted that the state is targeting a wide range of priority sectors, including:
- Transformative infrastructure and smart urban planning
- Sustainable transportation systems
- Healthcare innovation and access
- Renewable energy and climate resilience
- Creative and digital economies
- Real estate, construction, and industrial clusters
- Agro-value chains and food security
- Blue economy and marine investments
“This summit symbolises our transition from aspiration to achievement—discussions to action. It is about catalysing partnerships that will reshape Lagos’ investment climate for long-term impact,” Ambrose said.
Matchmaking Capital with Opportunity
One of the Summit’s core strengths lies in its bespoke investment matchmaking framework, where high-value stakeholders are paired with sector-specific opportunities that align with Lagos State’s economic reform agenda. The sessions are designed to attract venture capitalists, infrastructure financiers, multinational investors, and ecosystem enablers, offering a deal pipeline that can fast-track project execution.
The event will also serve as a platform to unveil the Lagos State Industrial Policy (LSIP 2025–2030)—a roadmap for industrial regeneration, value chain competitiveness, and investment readiness. According to Ambrose, the policy will reposition Lagos as Africa’s industrial powerhouse, enhance productivity, and reduce the state’s exposure to external economic shocks.
Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth in Focus
In keeping with global development goals, the summit aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). According to Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih, Special Adviser to the Governor on SDGs, the collaborative spirit between the state and private sector stakeholders illustrates the power of shared responsibility in financing the future.
Adding to this, Mrs. Peju Ibekwe, CEO of Sterling One Foundation, noted that last year’s summit facilitated more than $100 million in committed impact investments, with expectations that the 2025 edition will surpass that milestone.
“Lagos is not just an investment destination—it is Africa’s innovation nerve centre,” Ibekwe said. “This summit is about scaling real action. We’re moving from pitch decks to projects, from MOUs to milestones.”
A Model for Subnational Economic Development in Africa
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre and sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth-largest economy by GDP, is demonstrating that subnational entities can drive development independently of federal constraints, provided they anchor vision in policy, partnership, and political will.
In a region where capital flow is constrained by risk, currency volatility, and weak institutions, Lagos State is positioning itself as a regional outlier, leveraging urban dynamism, innovation ecosystems, and a maturing financial architecture to attract both development capital and private equity.
Bottom Line: From Talk to Tangible Transformation
As the world turns its gaze toward sustainable urban economies, Invest Lagos 2.0 is more than a summit — it is an economic accelerant. It reflects a growing maturity in Nigeria’s development planning at the subnational level, where outcomes, not optics, now take centre stage.
Lagos is betting big on infrastructure, green growth, industrialisation, and tech-led inclusion. If the Summit delivers on its promise of catalytic investment and bold execution, it could chart a new blueprint for other African cities seeking resilience, relevance, and results.
