Connect with us

News

Lagos to Establish West Africa’s Premier International Financial Centre

Published

on

Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner; Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor; Anna Rogers, Director, International Development, TheCityUK; and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Board Chairman, EntrepriseNGR, at the launch of the LIFU report, last week at State House Marina, Lagos.
Kindly share this post

TheCityUK, in partnership with the UK Government, Lagos State Government, Lagos International Financial Centre Council (LIFCC), and EnterpriseNGR, have unveiled a landmark report, “Establishing an International Financial Centre in Lagos (LIFC), Nigeria”, outlining a strategic roadmap to transform Lagos into the West African hub for international investment capital driving innovation, and sustainable growth across the country and the wider region.

The LIFC initiative aligns with Nigeria’s Agenda 2050 and the Lagos State Development Plan 2052, to deliver long-term economic prosperity, deepen financial markets, and attract productive global investment. The project showcases the power of public-private partnership, bringing visionary leadership from the government together with private sector companies seeking to tap into Nigeria’s young, dynamic market to deliver economic growth.

The report was launched at an event at State House Marina with guests including Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, British Deputy High Commissioner Jonny Baxter, and EnterpriseNGR Board Chairman and CEO, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Obi Ibekwe.

Key Highlights from the Report:

  • Strategic Vision: The LIFC will support Nigeria’s ambition to become an upper-middle-income country by 2050, driving inclusive growth, reducing poverty, and creating high-value jobs, especially for Nigeria’s talented youth.
  • International Collaboration: The report highlights the benefit of strong UK-Nigerian co-operation, building on best practices and global benchmarks to align the LIFC with international standards.
  • Model Recommendation: The report recommends the development of an independent IFC model for Lagos, and the steps to achieve this. An IFCwill deliver, regulatory clarity, simplified tax and policy settings and offer greater investor confidence and economic benefits for the wider Nigerian economy.
  • Unique Selling Points: The LIFC should focus on areas which can deliver the greatest economic benefits matched to investor interest. Consultations have suggested three areas for its initial focus: Green and Sustainable Finance, FinTech & Innovation, and Commodities Trading & Capital Markets. These sectors are identified as key drivers for Nigeria’s future competitiveness and growth.
  • Governance and Legal Reform: The report calls for robust legal and regulatory frameworks, an independent governance framework, and strong collaboration between Lagos State, Federal Government, and private sector stakeholders to drive the implementation of the IFC.
  • Talent and Human Capital: A focus on developing domestic talent, easing visa regimes for international professionals, and building a pipeline of skilled workers will underpin the LIFC’s success.
  • Tax and Incentives: Recommendations include competitive tax regimes, tailored incentives for investment that aligns to the national vision, and streamlined business processes to attract global capital.

On the report, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor, said, “Lagos is fully committed to the birth of the International Financial Centre. We know that it is a veritable means of supporting seamless trading and to enhance competitiveness of financial markets.

As Nigeria’s largest economic and financial centre, Lagos plays a critical role in driving the nation’s capital markets. We need to create an ecosystem that will help to facilitate investment flows, enhance market liquidity, and promote financial literacy.

“The LIFC initiative will not only strengthen our market infrastructure but also unlock new opportunities for public-private partnerships in technology and capital market development. It will support seamless trading, attract foreign investment and enhance competitiveness of financial markets.”

Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner, commented; “The launch of the Lagos International Financial Centre report reflects the deepening of UK-Nigeria partnership, combining Lagos’s comparative strengths with UK expertise.

Anchored in clear, evidence‑based analysis and launched at a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s reform journey, the LIFC has the potential to unlock major domestic and international investment, deepen capital markets, create jobs, and drive sustainable economic growth across the country, not just in Lagos State.”

Nicola Watkinson, Managing Director, International, TheCityUK, said, “Nigeria is a high-growth, dynamic and large market and the Lagos International Financial Centre could be vital to its future.

By building a modern, integrated business and regulatory environment and financial ecosystem, the LIFC will support the attraction of global and domestic capital, deepen domestic markets, facilitate innovation in FinTech and green finance, and create high‑value jobs for Nigeria’s youth.

“Supporting the development of Lagos as an international financial centre is a clear example of how the UK and Nigeria are deepening their strategic partnership.”


Kindly share this post

Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

News

FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.

According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.

Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.

Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.

GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.

Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.

The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after  SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk

Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.

The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.

Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.

SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.

The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.

The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.

Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.

The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.

The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.

Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.

Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.

Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”

“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.

SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.

The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.

Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.

The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.

Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.

Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.

The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.

Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

Published

on

Kindly share this post

African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.

The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.

Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.

Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”

He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.

Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.

According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.

The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.

Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending