FED. GOVT. BACKS LAGOS INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE, SETS Q1 2027 SOFT LAUNCH
• National Steering Committee brings Federal institutions, Lagos State and the private sector represented by EnterpriseNGR together to move the LIFC from design to implementation
By Trek Africa Newspaper
Nigeria has taken a major step towards establishing the Lagos International Financial Centre (LIFC), as the Federal Government, Lagos State Government and the private sector, represented by EnterpriseNGR, formally strengthened the national implementation architecture for an initiative designed to position Nigeria more competitively in the global race for capital.
At the inaugural meeting of the LIFC National Steering Committee in Abuja on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, the Federal Government affirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s endorsement of the LIFC as a strategic national economic priority, giving Federal institutions responsibility for addressing the legal, fiscal, regulatory, immigration, investment promotion and digital infrastructure requirements critical to its establishment.
The development represents a significant progression for the LIFC, which was initiated by the Lagos State Government in partnership with EnterpriseNGR and has, over the past two years, evolved through extensive engagement with government institutions, regulators, private-sector leaders and international partners.
It also establishes a model of collaboration in which the Federal Government provides the national policy and institutional framework; Lagos State continues to drive the development of the Centre as host jurisdiction; and EnterpriseNGR provides the platform through which Nigeria’s Financial and Professional Services sector participates directly in its design and delivery.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, CON, who inaugurated the Committee, said President Tinubu had directed the Office of the SGF to coordinate Federal Government support for the initiative.
According to him, the LIFC presents an opportunity to leverage Lagos’ strategic position and Nigeria’s economic potential to create a financial centre of international standing.
He noted that the composition of the Committee bringing together key Federal Government institutions, Lagos State and the private sector reflected the level of coordination required to resolve the policy, legal, regulatory, institutional and infrastructure issues necessary to establish a globally competitive financial centre.
The Federal Government’s participation significantly expands the implementation capacity behind the initiative. The Committee brings together institutions responsible for finance, justice, foreign affairs, immigration, trade and investment, communications and taxation, alongside the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This whole-of-government architecture is expected to provide the coordination required to create an environment in which global and domestic investors can operate with greater regulatory clarity, legal certainty and institutional confidence.
For the Lagos State Government, the inauguration marks an important validation of work that began with the establishment of the LIFC Council and the development of a broader vision to build an internationally competitive financial centre anchored in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Speaking at the meeting, Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, CON, Chairman of the LIFC Council, described the LIFC as “strategic national infrastructure”, stressing that the initiative must be understood not simply as a Lagos project, but as a deliberate instrument of Nigeria’s long-term economic strategy.
International financial centres, the Governor noted, are deliberately created by countries to mobilise long-term capital, deepen financial markets, build trusted jurisdictions and connect domestic economies with global investment.
The ambition for Lagos, he said, is consequently much larger than attracting businesses into a geographical location.
It is to establish Africa’s premier International Financial Centre, a trusted gateway through which global capital can access opportunities in Nigeria and across the African continent.
Central to that ambition will be the credibility of the environment the Centre creates.
Governor Sanwo-Olu emphasised that the LIFC must be built around institutional trust, regulatory quality, legal certainty and international connectivity, while making clear that the Centre would neither operate as a tax haven nor provide a platform for regulatory arbitrage or illicit financial activity.
Rather, its competitiveness will depend on creating the predictability, transparency and quality of institutions that international investors expect from leading financial centres.
For Lagos, this is particularly significant.
As Nigeria’s principal commercial and financial hub and the location of a substantial concentration of the country’s banking, capital markets, insurance, fintech, professional services and investment activity, Lagos provides the scale, market depth and ecosystem required to anchor an international financial centre.
The State Government will continue to lead critical aspects of the initiative, including planning, infrastructure development and the Lagos-specific legislative and institutional framework required to support the Centre.
But Governor Sanwo-Olu stressed that its impact must extend far beyond Lagos.
The LIFC, he said, should become an enduring national institution capable of supporting successive administrations and strengthening Nigeria’s ability to compete for global capital over the long term.
That national imperative has become even more significant as Nigeria pursues the Federal Government’s ambition of building a US$1 trillion economy by 2030.
Achieving an economy of that scale will require significantly deeper pools of capital, stronger financial intermediation, greater investor confidence and institutions capable of connecting Nigerian opportunities with global finance.
The LIFC is being designed as one of the platforms through which that ambition can be supported.
The private sector, represented by EnterpriseNGR, has been integral to the LIFC from its earliest stages, ensuring that the institutions expected to use, invest through and ultimately sustain the Centre have a direct role in determining how it is built.
EnterpriseNGR has convened perspectives from across Nigeria’s Financial and Professional Services sector including banking, insurance, capital markets, asset management and professional services and channelled those perspectives into the Centre’s strategic and institutional design.
Speaking at the inauguration, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, CFR, Chairman of EnterpriseNGR and Co-Chairman of the LIFC Council, described the partnership between the Federal Government, Lagos State and the private sector as an example of what Nigeria can achieve when institutions align around a shared economic objective.
“I believe this will become a case study that will be written about in history as an example of how Nigeria can truly work. Nigeria is powerful, and Nigeria needs capital.”
He underscored the central challenge confronting every country seeking global investment: capital is highly mobile and ultimately gravitates towards jurisdictions where it feels safe, where rules are predictable and where investors believe opportunities can grow.
“Capital is perhaps the most discerning visitor that I know,” he said. “Capital goes where it feels safe. It goes where it believes it can grow. It goes where it feels comfortable.”
This philosophy has shaped the LIFC’s development.
Substantial preparatory work has already been undertaken, including the development of a strategic blueprint, legal and regulatory gap assessments and work on the business plan, institutional operating model and implementation economics.
Specialist workstreams are also addressing legal and regulatory reform, institutional capability and the international positioning of the Centre, with KPMG supporting the Project Office and TheCityUK providing international technical support funded by the UK Government.
For EnterpriseNGR, the significance of the initiative is also rooted in ensuring that the benefits of a successful financial centre extend into the real economy.
Although global capital may enter Nigeria through Lagos, the intention is that it ultimately finances opportunities across the country — from infrastructure and technology to agriculture, manufacturing and other productive sectors.
A successful LIFC is consequently expected to contribute to higher-value employment, deeper capital markets, stronger professional services capabilities, an expanded tax base and greater participation by Nigerian enterprises in regional and international markets.
Aig-Imoukhuede said the project is now approaching its final development phase, with promoters working towards a soft launch in the first quarter of 2027.
The inauguration also placed a clear emphasis on implementation.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, pledged the Federal Government’s support in creating the legal certainty required to build investor confidence, including identifying Federal and sub-national laws that may require amendment, enhancement or repeal.
Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Dr Zacch Adedeji, similarly urged stakeholders to move rapidly from steering to implementation, stressing the importance of designing a model appropriate to Nigeria’s constitutional, legal and economic realities rather than simply replicating structures developed elsewhere.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, described the LIFC as a catalytic initiative capable of accelerating Nigeria’s journey towards a US$1 trillion economy, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs committed to supporting the Centre through Nigeria’s diplomatic network, international advocacy, investment diplomacy and strategic partnerships.
The National Steering Committee therefore represents more than another layer of governance around the LIFC.
It connects the institutions that make national policy, the State that will host and help operationalise the Centre, and the private-sector institutions whose capital, expertise and international networks will determine its commercial relevance.
That alignment will be critical as the initiative enters its most consequential stage: converting strategy into an institution that investors trust and businesses use.
For Nigeria, the opportunity is significant.
Across Africa and other emerging markets, jurisdictions are competing deliberately for capital, talent, businesses, transactions and financial expertise. Financial centres including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Casablanca and Kigali demonstrate that such ecosystems are built through intentional policy choices, credible regulation and sustained institutional commitment.
The LIFC represents Nigeria’s opportunity to compete at that level.
With Federal backing now firmly established, Lagos State providing the jurisdictional leadership and EnterpriseNGR keeping the Financial and Professional Services industry embedded in the implementation process, the initiative is moving closer to its central ambition:
To establish Lagos, and through it Nigeria, as Africa’s premier international financial centre and a trusted gateway between global capital and African opportunity.
About the Lagos International Financial Centre
The Lagos International Financial Centre is a collaborative initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Lagos State Government and the private sector, represented by EnterpriseNGR, to establish an internationally competitive financial centre in Lagos and position Nigeria as a trusted gateway for global capital seeking opportunities across Nigeria and Africa.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
SPECIAL ADVISER – MEDIA AND PUBLICITY
