11th annual summit to tackle generational wealth, business resilience and the future of wealth creation as more than 3,000 attendees converge in Lagos.
As economic pressures continue to reshape how individuals and businesses earn, invest and preserve wealth, Smart Stewards is bringing some of Nigeria’s most influential builders and wealth creators together for a national conversation on how to build wealth that can outlive its founders.
The organisation’s 11th Annual Summit, ELEVATE 2026, scheduled for Saturday, 19 September 2026 in Maryland, Lagos, will bring together more than 3,000 entrepreneurs, professionals, executives, founders, investors and aspiring wealth creators under the theme:
“Build a Wealth Dynasty the Economy Can’t Shake: You, Your Children, Their Children.”
The summit comes at a time when economic uncertainty is forcing Nigerians to rethink traditional approaches to earning, investing and preserving wealth. ELEVATE 2026 seeks to shift the conversation from simply making money to building assets, businesses and financial systems capable of creating value across generations.
The programme will feature two major experiences.
The Main Summit which will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., is free and open to the public. It will provide practical insights into earning, saving, investing and building sustainable wealth, with speakers including Dr Ini Abimbola, Dr Niyi Adesanya, Coach Bola Matel-Okoh and Bishop Funke Felix-Adejumo.
The afternoon will see the launch of The Founders’ Table, a premium, curated gathering running from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., bringing together leading founders, investors and business executives for an unusually candid conversation about what it really takes to build companies that last.
At the heart of the conversation will be the realities that rarely make it into polished business success stories: capital, cash flow, customers, connections, setbacks, risk, access and the difficult decisions behind building enduring enterprises.
Among the high-profile voices confirmed for The Founders’ Table are Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave and Founding Partner of Future Africa; and Dr Juliet Ehimuan, former Director of Google West Africa and founder of Beyond Limits Africa.
They will be joined by prominent voices from across business, entertainment, technology and the creative economy, including Babatunde Akin-Moses, Co-founder and CEO of Sycamore; Dr Busola Tejumola, Executive Head of General Entertainment at MultiChoice; Dr Yetty Ogunnubi, Founder and CEO of YD Company and FashionEVO; Maryam “Taaooma” Apaokagi-Greene, creator and founder; and Ejiro Amos-Tafiri, fashion designer and founder.
The gathering will also draw participation from sectors including agriculture, real estate, media, technology and the creative economy, alongside stakeholders from financial institutions, the technology ecosystem and diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Consulate in Lagos.
For more than a decade, Smart Stewards has positioned financial education and wealth creation as critical tools for individual and economic transformation. The organisation says it has reached more than 100,000 people across 60 countries through its academy, flagship financial literacy programme; MINA, corporate training programmes, business advisory arm, and fintech platform, WealthSync.
For Founder and Lead Coach of Smart Stewards, Sola Adesakin, the focus of ELEVATE goes beyond financial literacy. “We have never believed that information alone builds wealth. Wealth is built through capacity, through connection, and through access to the right rooms and the right capital. That is what ELEVATE is: a room where founders, investors and everyday builders stand shoulder to shoulder, and where a wealth dynasty stops being an idea and starts becoming a plan. This economy will shake many things. It should not be able to shake what we build together.”
With wealth inequality, business sustainability and intergenerational wealth increasingly becoming central to conversations about Africa’s economic future, ELEVATE 2026 is positioning itself as more than another business conference.
It is a call for a new generation of Africans to think beyond income and begin building assets, institutions, businesses and legacies that can withstand economic shocks and create opportunities for those who come after them.
The Main Summit is free to attend, while The Founders’ Table is a premium, curated experience.
About Smart Stewards
Founded in 2015 by chartered accountant and wealth coach Sola Adesakin, Smart Stewards is a financial education and wealth-coaching organisation dedicated to helping everyday people make, manage and multiply money. Over more than a decade, it has grown into a trusted financial capability partner serving both individuals and institutions.
Its work spans the Smart Stewards Academy, the flagship MINA Money Mastery Blueprint, the WealthSync investment platform, a youth arm through the Smart Stewards Junior Club, and community initiatives that have empowered thousands of women and families. Smart Stewards has reached over 200,000 people online, trained more than 10,000 learners across 40+ countries, and its annual Smart Stewards Summit gathers thousands each year.
The organisation has partnered with institutions including the Mastercard Foundation, the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, WIMBIZ and CcHUB, and operates entities in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is led by Sola Adesakin (FCA, FCCA, CPA, MBA, CFEI), a Forbes Coaching Council member, IVLP alumna and author of eight books.
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