President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to leading Africa’s economic transformation, as the country hosts the 4th Annual Meeting of the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF) in Abuja.
Declaring the summit open on Sunday, President Tinubu—represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima—urged African nations to deepen regional cooperation and deploy their sovereign wealth funds as tools for mobilizing global capital and driving large-scale, transformative development across the continent.
“With the right reforms and investment platforms, Africa can take ownership of its growth story,” Tinubu said. “Nigeria is ready to lead with bold, catalytic reforms that promote economic inclusion, innovation, and regional prosperity.”
The three-day forum, held under the theme “Leveraging African Sovereign Wealth Funds to Mobilise Global Capital for Transformative Development,” is bringing together sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, and policy leaders from 17 African countries. Key global partners include the China Investment Corporation and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
In his keynote remarks, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, called for a continental pivot from stabilisation-focused funds to strategic investments in infrastructure, energy, and industry.
“Africa must lead its own industrialisation,” Edun stated. “By mobilizing domestic capital and aligning with credible global partners, we can move from a future defined by potential to one built on performance.”
Edun spotlighted Nigeria’s trailblazing financial models—such as the Infrastructure Debt Fund, the Green Guarantee Company, and a landmark US-dollar domestic bond issuance—as proof of Nigeria’s readiness to attract global capital.
Also speaking, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, Managing Director and CEO of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), emphasized the role of sovereign wealth collaboration in unlocking Africa’s future.
“NSIA is honoured to host our peers across the continent. Our combined resources can be a formidable force for long-term prosperity,” he said.
The summit also witnessed the launch of the ASIF Investment Platform—a flagship initiative aimed at coordinating cross-border investments in infrastructure, renewable energy, healthcare, and manufacturing.
The platform, delegates say, will help de-risk large-scale projects, expand blended finance tools, and attract more private-sector capital into the continent’s most urgent development sectors.
For Nigeria and its partners, ASIF 2025 marks a turning point—moving beyond rhetoric into action, and laying the groundwork for a continent driven by African solutions, African capital, and African ambition.
