Private investment key to economic growth – Hamzat

L-R: Director-General, Lagos State APC Governorship Campaign Council, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro; Chairperson, Nigeria Diaspora Commission, Honourable Abike Dabiri, Senator representing Adamawa Central, Senator Abass Aminu Iya; Senator Wasiu Eshinlokun, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat; Mrs Curbie Ibrahim; Lagos APC Deputy governorship candidate, Princess Damilola Sonayon-James and Mrs Yemisi Ibrahim... **L-R 2nd roll: To his left- Mr. Kayode Lambo Chairman Canary Point Holding, Group Managing Director, Canary Point Holdings, Mr Ibrahim Idris ; and Mr. Olakunle Runsewe MD Stretford Hill Ltd. (builder) at the opening of Canary Point Holding Headquarters in Lagos on Tuesday...

The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, has emphasised the importance of pri-vate sector investments in stimulating economic activities, creating opportunities and strengthen-ing the country’s financial services sector.

He said this on Tuesday at the inauguration cere-mony for Canary Point Holding Limited’s new headquarters in Lagos.

“Collaboration between the government and pri-vate sector institutions could help develop practi-cal financing solutions that would make home-ownership more accessible, particularly to low- and middle-income earners,” he stated.

Hamzat lauded Canary Point Holding’s tremen-dous growth and expanding investment portfolio across multiple business chains, describing its de-velopment as a testament to entrepreneurial vi-sion, strategic expansion and the capacity of in-digenous businesses to contribute meaningfully to economic growth.

He acknowledged the firm’s contributions to the Lagos State and national economies,

The deputy governor, who is the governorship candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress in Lagos for the 2027 election, urged the group to sustain its impressive growth trajectory by deep-ening investments in technology and cybersecuri-ty, stressing that innovation, digital resilience and the protection of financial transactions were in-creasingly critical to the competitiveness and sus-tainability of modern financial institutions.

He also noted that the Lagos State Government was ready to explore a partnership with Canary Point Holding in the mortgage and real estate sec-tors to help residents access affordable housing.

Hamzat further challenged the company to em-brace healthy internal competition among its sub-sidiaries, encouraging each business unit to strive for excellence, improve performance and become the best version of itself.

He emphasised that the group’s long-term success would depend not only on its ability to expand but also on its capacity to continually improve service delivery, strengthen operational efficiency and de-velop solutions that respond to the changing needs of customers.

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Also, the Group Managing Director of Canary Point Holding, Mr Idris Ibrahim, said the group’s devel-opment had been shaped by a simple but enduring principle: understanding the needs behind finan-cial transactions and building the capabilities to address them.

“Behind every transaction is a person or a busi-ness trying to achieve something,” Idris said, re-flecting on the early lessons that informed his en-trepreneurial journey.

He explained that his experience at Sebastian Bu-reau de Change revealed that customers’ foreign exchange transactions often served broader eco-nomic purposes, ranging from paying overseas suppliers and school fees to supporting family members across borders.

According to Ibrahim, these relationships exposed opportunities beyond foreign exchange and in-formed the establishment of Swift & Allied Part-ners Limited in 2014 to provide lending services.

In 2016, the group established Nairagram to de-velop an Africa-owned payments network with global reach.

The business currently facilitates payments across 37 African countries and operates with licences in Nigeria, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

In 2018, it acquired Assets Microfinance Bank and began transforming it into a digitally enabled bank.

In a keynote address, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, who was represented at the event by Senator Abass Iya from Adamawa State, lauded Canary Point Holding Limited for its contributions to the financial services and technology sectors.