To foster more private sector participation in the drive towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa, the Sterling One Foundation has announced African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) as its strategic partner in hosting the third edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS).
The event will focus on identifying strategies to mitigate risks in the continent’s investment opportunities to boost impact investment flows, drive policy-influencing conversations, and foster effective partnerships for sustainable growth.
Private sector involvement in driving social impact has hitherto been touted as a key component for achieving the SDGs, given the funding capacities of the sector to drive scale and the opportunity to champion responsible consumption through policies, production processes, output, and specific projects.
Having Afreximbank, the continent’s leading multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra – and extra – African trade will help drive conversations in the development financing space.
“ASIS brings together leaders from across sectors to share learnings, ideas, and plans for accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. Trade is a fundamental piece of this development process, and there are few organizations in Africa with the insights to drive increased productivity for the continent like Afreximbank,” explained Mrs. Olapeju Ibekwe, CEO of the Sterling One Foundation.
Regional Chief Operating Officer, Anglophone West Africa at AfreximbankMr. Eric Monchu Intong, highlighted that the Bank’s collaboration with Sterling One Foundation in hosting the Summit is part of the long-standing and strategic relationship with Sterling Bank Nigeria as it presents an opportunity to support participating organizations. This will be achieved through knowledge sharing on Afreximbank’s mandate, programmes and facilities through which innovative financing solutions are deployed in a bid to increase Africa’s share of global trade.
“We are excited about this partnership as it gives us an opportunity to strengthen alliances for our shared destiny, prosperity and the economic emancipation of our continent under the African Union Agenda 2063 – the Africa we want. We are particularly pleased with its multisectoral approach as we understand that one organisation or one sector alone cannot drive the level of sustainable growth the continent requires,” he added.