• National alignment, capacity building programme ends at Cambridge Varsity
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Nigeria has reached an important milestone in its effort to establish the Lagos International Financial Centre (LIFC), a flagship national economic initiative of the federal government, the Lagos state government, and the private sector, led by EnterpriseNGR as a strategic partner driving private sector coordination and implementation readiness.
To this end, on Monday, February 23, 2026, a select group of 17 senior Nigerian government officials, including legislators, financial regulators, and private sector leaders directly responsible for shaping policy, regulation, and execution convened at the Møller Institute, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Specifically , this meeting was for a high-level national alignment and capacity building programme, which held over a period of two days, as part of phase two of the LIFC’s development.
This phase, a statement said yesterday, builds on the foundational capacity-building programme held in October 2025, which brought together 15 senior officials from the Lagos state government and EnterpriseNGR for the first phase of training, designed to strengthen institutional capacity and ensure coordinated public-private sector readiness for the Centre’s establishment.
The LIFC is designed to establish a globally benchmarked, ring-fenced financial jurisdiction within Nigeria to attract international investment, deepen capital markets, strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s financial system, and accelerate national economic transformation.
It is expected to generate significant economic benefits for Nigeria, including increased foreign direct investment, high-value job creation, enhanced fiscal revenues, and stronger global competitiveness for Nigeria’s financial and professional services sector.
The programme has the Lagos state government and EnterpriseNGR playing a key role in supporting programme development, stakeholder alignment, and private sector engagement.
The Cambridge programme, the organisers said, marked a critical step in moving the LIFC from planning toward implementation.
As for the programme’s strategic national importance, the statement noted that the LIFC directly supports and aligns with Nigeria’s key national and sub-national development frameworks.
These, it said, include: The Renewed Hope Medium-Term Plan (2026–2030); Nigeria Agenda 2050 and The Lagos State Development Plan 2052.
Besides, the initiative, it stressed, also supports the government’s strategic objectives to: Increase foreign direct investment inflows; strengthen financial regulation and market integrity; enhance Nigeria’s global investment competitiveness and position Nigeria as Africa’s premier financial and professional services hub and preferred investment destination.
The establishment of the LIFC, it said, is intended to address structural constraints that have historically limited Nigeria’s ability to fully compete for global capital by creating a globally aligned financial environment within Nigeria.
Talking about what was achieved at Cambridge, the statement stated that the Cambridge programme was designed to ensure national alignment and institutional readiness as Nigeria enters the second phase of the LIFC’s development.
The programme, it explained, is focused on: Co-creating a shared vision for the LIFC; enhancing understanding of international financial centre operations; strengthening regulatory, legal, and institutional capacity; supporting coordination ahead of the proposed LIFC establishment bill and preparing relevant institutions for LIFC’s phased rollout and planned soft launch.
“This approach reflects global best practice and follows development pathways used by internationally recognised financial centres such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Astana,” it added.
According to the statement, the programme brought together senior leaders directly responsible for designing, legislating, regulating, and operationalising the LIFC. Participants were LIFC council leadership, including: Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State and Chairman, LIFC Council and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Co-Chairman, LIFC Council/Chairman EnterpriseNGR.
From the National Assembly were: Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions; Senator Adamu Aliero and Senator Abubakar Umar Sadiq.
In the same vein, some persons who represented the federal and state governments, included: Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Mrs. Sanyade Okoli, Special Adviser to the President on the Economy; Dr Emomotimi Agama, Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission; Ms. Aisha Rimi, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and Mr. Abayomi Oluyomi, Commissioner for Finance, Lagos State.
Also present were senior representatives from the Federal Ministry of Finance; Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) as well as officials of EnterpriseNGR. “Their participation reflects the scale of national coordination underpinning the LIFC initiative,” it added.
As for expected economic impact, the statement emphasised that across countries, IFCs generate economic benefits through five recurring transmission channels: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and value-added growth, wherein financial services are high-productivity sectors with strong spillovers.
“Employment and human capital formation: high-skill, high-wage jobs plus indirect employment; Foreign direct investment (FDI) and capital inflows, with IFCs reducing friction for cross-border finance.
“Fiscal revenues: Corporate taxes, personal income taxes, fees, and indirect taxes and economic diversification and resilience (including) reduced reliance on commodities or manufacturing alone.
“By creating an internationally benchmarked financial jurisdiction within Nigeria, the LIFC is intended to strengthen the country’s investment environment and support long-term economic growth,” the promoters said.
The LIFC, the statement pointed out, represents one of Nigeria’s most significant ongoing economic transformation initiatives and has direct implications for: Nigeria’s investment landscape; financial market development; job creation and economic growth and the country’s global economic positioning.
“The completion of this phase two national alignment programme at Cambridge marks an important milestone as Nigeria advances toward the LIFC’s planned soft launch before the end of 2027,” it added.
EnterpriseNGR is an independent member-led group established for the purpose of promoting and influencing an enabling policy environment for the Nigerian Financial and Professional Services (FPS) sector.
The FPS sector includes Banking, Insurance, Pensions, Capital Market Operators, Asset Management, Exchanges, Depositories, Clearing Houses, Law, Accountancy and Management Consulting.
