The third edition of Lagos State’s flagship investment summit, Invest in Lagos 3.0, has opened today at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, drawing over 1,000 delegates from 50 countries for a two-day programme designed to mobilise N4 trillion in local and foreign direct investment.
Themed “Lagos: Business Gateway to Africa — Where Innovation Meets Capital,” the summit is organised in partnership with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council and brings together sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, multinationals, policymakers, and entrepreneurs across sectors that include infrastructure, technology, agriculture, energy, logistics, financial services, and SME development.
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Who is at the table
The confirmed speaker lineup reflects the summit’s ambition. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Jumoke Oduwole are among the Lagos and federal government representatives. On the private sector and institutional side, Moniepoint Group CEO Tosin Eniolorunda, First Bank Managing Director Olusegun Alebiosu, Sterling Bank CEO Abubakar Suleiman, CWEIC Chairman Lord Marland, Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey, and Microsoft’s Chief Growth and AI Officer for Middle East and Africa Tomiwa Williams are all participating.
Co-Chair of the Lagos Finance and Investment Council Aig Imoukhuede and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Chairman Segun Ogunsanya add financial market depth to proceedings. The breadth of participation signals that Invest in Lagos 3.0 has moved beyond the format of a conventional investment conference into a deal-making environment with real commercial weight.
When the CEO of the country’s leading fintech company sits in the same room as sovereign wealth fund managers, development finance institutions, and the ministers who shape regulatory conditions, the conversations that result tend to produce more than press releases.
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Why SMEs are central to the agenda
SME development has been explicitly built into the summit’s sector focus. For Nigerian entrepreneurs, the summit represents one of the most accessible entry points into a network of institutional capital providers, strategic partners, and policy influencers that would otherwise require years of relationship-building to reach.
Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce Folashade Ambrose-Medebem has described the summit as a strategic platform for investment mobilisation, policy engagement, and enterprise partnerships — one that builds on previous editions by offering clearer implementation pathways and stronger global engagement.
The business-to-business and business-to-government matching sessions embedded in the programme are designed to move conversations into actionable outcomes. For SMEs participating or watching closely, the outcomes of those conversations on infrastructure investment, financial services reform, and digital economy growth will shape the operating environment in which they build their businesses over the next several years.
Lagos has a population of over 23 million, one of Africa’s largest city economies, and a growing industrial base. That is not a pitch — it is a commercial argument, and the summit is designed to make sure the world’s capital providers hear it clearly.
