Economic Opportunity Lab · Edition 01
The Qatar Advantage: Banking, Finance & Investment Roundtable
- Date
- Friday, 4 September 2026
- In partnership with
- The Qatar Advantage (The Concierge Lawyering)
- Location
- Lagos, Nigeria
At a glance
20
Stakeholders in the room
16
Organisations represented
Banking, Finance & Investment
Sector
Closed-door roundtable
Format
Guest of honour
Mohammed Al Sharam
Vice President for Africa, Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority
What happens when you have the right people in the right room?
Our first Economic Opportunity Lab convened 20 stakeholders from 16 leading organisations across Nigeria’s Banking, Finance and Investment ecosystem for an intimate executive conversation with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority.
Titled “The Qatar Advantage: Banking, Finance & Investment Roundtable”, the room was deliberately curated for candid exchange, institutional insight and opportunity discovery — small enough for everyone to speak, senior enough for what was said to matter.
The calibre of stakeholders in the room made the conversation particularly valuable, bringing decision-makers and industry leaders together to share perspectives, identify opportunities, and explore how deeper connections between the two markets can translate into tangible value.
What we explored
The opportunities Qatar presents
What Qatar concretely offers Nigerian businesses and institutions today — the licensing environment, the incentives, and the sectors where Nigerian capability is actively sought.
A relationship still being written
The Nigeria–Qatar relationship is young enough to be shaped deliberately. The room examined what deeper institutional ties could unlock on both sides, and who has to move first.
Qatar as a gateway to the Gulf
Beyond Qatar itself lies a Gulf market of more than $13 trillion. The conversation treated Qatar less as a destination and more as an entry point into that wider market.
Investment, collaboration and market access
Where financial collaboration is realistic in the near term: co-investment structures, correspondent relationships, trade finance, and the practical mechanics of market entry.
Value that flows back
How participating organisations advance through a Qatar presence, and how that advantage returns to Nigeria as capital, capability and jobs rather than staying offshore.
Organisations represented
Decision-makers and industry leaders from across the ecosystem, including:
Babalakin & Co.
Wema Bank
Recital Finance
Flutterwave
Credit Direct Finance (FCMB Group)
Aspire Mortgage Bank
Canary Point Capital
Zedcrest Global Markets
Moliere Partners
CFG Africa
Sohcahtoa Holdings
Ceviant Finance
Abbey Bank
From the room
In their words
“Co-organizing the Banking, Finance and Investment (BFI) Roundtable with The Connected for Change Global Network (CforC) team, which hosted the Vice President for Africa at Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), was a very productive engagement. The collaboration was highly successful and seamless, achieving swift implementation despite the short turnaround time. We look forward to doing much more together.”
Omowumi Omidiji
Principal, The Concierge Lawyering (The Qatar Advantage)
What comes next
Being our first EOL, this is only the beginning. We are grateful to every institution and leader who made it possible despite the short turnaround — and there are more Labs to come.
Learn how a Lab works