From Talk to Transformation_ ASIS 2026 Sets New Benchmark for Policy Impact

<h4>From Talk to Transformation<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that Sterling One Foundation&comma; in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria&comma; the United Nations System&comma; and partners of the Africa Social Impact Summit &lpar;ASIS&rpar; will convene the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement on Wednesday&comma; January 28&comma; 2026&comma; at the State House Conference Centre&comma; Abuja&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The session will bring together senior government leaders&comma; chief executives&comma; development partners&comma; investors&comma; and civil society leaders to advance results-driven partnerships for inclusive growth&comma; foundational learning&comma; women and youth empowerment&comma; and national development<br &sol;>&NewLine;delivery&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The engagement&comma; co-hosted by the Office of the Vice President&comma; and Sterling One Foundation&comma; will serve as a national platform to translate continental commitments into country-level action — aligning policy reform&comma; private sector mobilisation&comma; and development finance around<br &sol;>&NewLine;Nigeria’s most urgent priorities&comma; including education&comma; jobs&comma; skills&comma; financial inclusion&comma; health&comma; entrepreneurship&comma; and institutional strengthening&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Themed &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Scaling Action – Driving Inclusive Growth through Policy and Innovation&comma;” the highlevel engagement will bring together over 200 senior leaders from government&comma; private enterprise&comma; development institutions&comma; civil society&comma; and the diplomatic community&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With only five years left to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals &lpar;SDGs&rpar;&comma; the convening is designed to drive policy reforms&comma; unlock innovative and blended financing&comma; and accelerate implementation across Nigeria’s most critical development priorities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Now in its fifth year&comma; the Africa Social Impact Summit &lpar;ASIS&rpar; has become a leading private sector-led continental platform for mobilizing public-private collaboration to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Co-convened by Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations&comma; ASIS has consistently elevated the role of policy innovation&comma; partnerships&comma; and impact financing in addressing Africa’s most pressing social and economic<br &sol;>&NewLine;challenges&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Building on this foundation&comma; the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement will focus on<br &sol;>&NewLine;translating the insights and recommendations from past ASIS communiqués into actionable<br &sol;>&NewLine;national policies and financing frameworks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The engagement aims to embed ASIS<br &sol;>&NewLine;commitments into Nigeria’s policy ecosystem&comma; elevate priority sectors as national imperatives&comma; and mobilise capital toward measurable SDG outcomes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Key highlights of the engagement include the launch of flagship&comma; policy-backed initiatives&comma; notably the Business Coalition for Education &lpar;BCE&rpar; and the Nigeria Foundational Learning Fund designed to accelerate foundational literacy and numeracy addressing the country’s out-of-school children challenge&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Also&comma; the Women and Youth Financial and Economic Inclusion &lpar;WYFEI&rpar; Nigeria&comma; the country’s flagship platform for advancing women and youth economic empowerment through compact-based delivery&comma; co-investment frameworks&comma; and<br &sol;>&NewLine;performance accountability&comma; will also be launched&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It will be the country implementation platform of the African Union WYFEI programme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking ahead of the engagement&comma; the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria<br &sol;>&NewLine;said&colon; <em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Nigeria’s future prosperity depends on how effectively we mobilise the private <&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>sector&comma; development partners&comma; and public institutions around shared national <&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>priorities&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;This engagement marks a critical step toward delivery-driven <&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>partnerships that unlock the full potential of our women and youth&comma; strengthen <&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>human capital&comma; and accelerate inclusive growth&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to Mrs&period; Olapeju Ibekwe&comma; CEO of Sterling One Foundation&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<em><strong>ASIS 2026 High Level Policy Engagement represents a pivotal shift from conversation to national execution&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;By deliberately aligning policy&comma; innovation&comma; and financing&comma; we are catalysing a framework that enables solutions to scale&comma; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>delivering real impact for millions of Nigerians while positioning Nigeria as a <&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>leader in Africa’s sustainable growth agenda&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The event will also feature the adoption of the WYFEI Nigeria Declaration&comma; a national statement of intent to be endorsed by government leaders&comma; CEOs&comma; and development partners&comma; committing to coordinated action to unlock Nigeria’s women and youth dividend&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Anchored within the UN SDG Stimulus Framework and aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063&comma; the ASIS 2026 High-Level Policy Engagement reinforces Nigeria’s leadership in translating<br &sol;>&NewLine;continental and global commitments into national action&comma; focused on inclusive growth&comma; shared prosperity&comma; and long-term resilience&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The convening forms part of the post–Africa Social Impact Summit national action series designed to move beyond dialogue to systems reform&comma; capital mobilisation&comma; and measurable impact across Africa’s largest economy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>About the Co-Conveners<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Africa Social Impact Summit &lpar;ASIS&rpar;&comma; co-convened by the Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations&comma; is a premier platform for accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals &lpar;SDGs&rpar; through innovation&comma; financing&comma; and partnerships&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Since 2022&comma; ASIS has convened leaders across sectors to co-create actionable solutions that advance<br &sol;>&NewLine;sustainable development in Africa&period; For more informationvisithttps&colon;&sol;&sol;theimpactsummit&period;org<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;