Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for a decisive shift from aid-dependent development models to impact-driven investments, saying Africa’s long-term growth will be powered by patient capital, blended finance and private enterprise rather than continued reliance on foreign assistance.

The Vice President made the call yesterday at the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS) High-Level Policy Engagement held at the State House, Abuja. He was represented by Hauwa Liman, Technical Adviser on Women, Youth Engagement and Impact.

Shettima said development thinking must move beyond public spending to long-term investments in human capital, productive systems, climate resilience, digital infrastructure and inclusive markets.

“The future of this continent will not be financed by aid alone. It will be driven by patient capital, catalytic capital, blended finance and private enterprise deployed with discipline and guided by impact”, he said.

He described impact investing not as philanthropy in disguise, but as “strategic capitalism” that recognises the link between sustainable returns and stable societies, educated workforces, healthy populations and resilient ecosystems.

According to him, Nigeria is already aligning its policies with this approach by strengthening delivery systems across education, health, social protection, agriculture, climate action, digital public infrastructure and financial inclusion, while reforming institutions and incentives to better serve citizens.

The Vice President noted that under the leadership of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Federal Government has embarked on far-reaching reforms to reverse Nigeria’s economic and social challenges, but stressed that no government can deliver Africa’s development agenda alone.

“That is why platforms such as the Africa Social Impact Summit are vital,” he said, describing the forum as a space for co-investment, co-design and co-delivery involving policymakers, development partners, private sector leaders and civil society organisations.

Shettima reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to expanding opportunities for young people and women, warning that fragmentation among stakeholders could undermine progress.

“The stakes are too high for disunity. Development is not done to people; it is built with them. Progress demands coalition”, he said.

He urged African leaders and partners to close the gap between promise and performance, noting that history would judge leadership not by speeches delivered, but by systems built, institutions strengthened and futures secured.

Echoing the Vice President’s position, the Executive Director (South) of Alternative Bank, Korede Demola-Adeniyi, called for stronger public-private collaboration and consistent government policies to unlock blended finance and accelerate inclusive growth across the continent.

Speaking at the engagement hosted by the Office of the Vice President in partnership with Sterling One Foundation and United Nations Nigeria, under the theme “Scaling Action: Driving Inclusive Growth Through Policy and Innovation,” Demola-Adeniyi said cooperation between government, banks, Development Finance Institutions and other stakeholders was critical to mobilising capital for impactful projects.

“From the Alternative Bank perspective, there has to be collaboration between both the public and private sectors. For the private sector, we need a combination of DFIs, banks and other stakeholders willing to key into projects of this nature”, she said.

She noted that blended finance initiatives are not only socially impactful but commercially viable, often outperforming conventional financing models.

“Records show that an average blended finance project records about 80 per cent repayment, compared to about 72 per cent for purely commercial projects,” she said.

Citing a partnership project in Kano that supported women with access to electric vehicles, Demola-Adeniyi said the bank’s experience demonstrates that inclusive and sustainable financing models can deliver both social impact and financial returns.

She identified policy inconsistency as a major obstacle to unlocking blended finance, warning that abrupt changes in policy frameworks often derail projects and discourage investors.

Calling for collective responsibility, she stressed that stable and predictable policies are essential to achieving Nigeria’s development ambitions, including the administration’s one-trillion-dollar economy target.