Sterling One Foundation, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the United Nations System and partners of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS), will convene the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
The engagement will bring together senior government officials, chief executives, development partners, investors and civil society leaders to advance results-driven partnerships focused on inclusive growth, foundational learning, women and youth empowerment, and effective national development delivery.
Co-hosted by the Office of the Vice President and Sterling One Foundation, the session is designed to serve as a national platform for translating continental and global commitments into concrete country-level action. It will align policy reform, private sector mobilisation and development finance around Nigeria’s most pressing priorities, including education, employment, skills development, financial inclusion, health, entrepreneurship and institutional strengthening.
Themed “Scaling Action – Driving Inclusive Growth through Policy and Innovation,” the high-level engagement will convene over 200 senior leaders from government, private enterprise, development institutions, civil society and the diplomatic community. With five years remaining to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the forum aims to catalyse policy reforms, unlock innovative and blended financing, and accelerate implementation across critical sectors.
Now in its fifth year, the Africa Social Impact Summit has emerged as a leading private sector–led continental platform for mobilising public-private collaboration to accelerate progress on the SDGs. Co-convened by Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations, ASIS has consistently promoted policy innovation, strategic partnerships and impact financing as tools for addressing Africa’s social and economic challenges.
Building on this legacy, the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement will focus on converting insights and recommendations from previous ASIS communiqués into actionable national policies and financing frameworks. The engagement seeks to embed ASIS commitments within Nigeria’s policy ecosystem, elevate priority sectors as national imperatives, and mobilise capital toward measurable SDG outcomes.
Key highlights include the launch of flagship, policy-backed initiatives such as the Business Coalition for Education (BCE) and the Nigeria Foundational Learning Fund, both aimed at accelerating literacy and numeracy outcomes and addressing the country’s out-of-school children challenge.
The event will also witness the launch of Women and Youth Financial and Economic Inclusion (WYFEI) Nigeria, the country’s flagship platform for advancing women and youth economic empowerment through compact-based delivery, co-investment frameworks and performance accountability. WYFEI Nigeria will serve as the national implementation platform for the African Union’s WYFEI programme.
Speaking ahead of the engagement, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria said the country’s future prosperity depends on effectively mobilising the private sector, development partners and public institutions around shared national priorities. He described the engagement as a critical step toward delivery-driven partnerships that unlock the potential of women and youth, strengthen human capital and accelerate inclusive growth.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, Mrs Olapeju Ibekwe, described the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement as a shift from dialogue to national execution. She noted that aligning policy, innovation and financing would enable solutions to scale and deliver tangible impact for millions of Nigerians, while positioning Nigeria as a leader in Africa’s sustainable growth agenda.
The engagement will also feature the adoption of the WYFEI Nigeria Declaration, a national statement of intent to be endorsed by government leaders, CEOs and development partners, committing stakeholders to coordinated action to unlock Nigeria’s women and youth dividend.
Anchored within the United Nations SDG Stimulus Framework and aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement underscores Nigeria’s leadership in translating continental and global commitments into national action focused on inclusive growth, shared prosperity and long-term resilience.
The convening forms part of the post–Africa Social Impact Summit national action series aimed at moving beyond dialogue to systems reform, capital mobilisation and measurable impact across Africa’s largest economy.
