7GI Unveils New Model for Family Governance, Continental Prosperity

Oriarehu Bonny

The 7 Generations Institute (7GI) continued its Pan-Africa Family Office Awareness and Engagement Tour with a high-level convening in Lagos, marking the next step in Africa’s first coordinated movement to redefine how families and institutions mobilise private wealth for development.

Held at the United Nations Development Programme Innovation Centre in collaboration with the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, Africa Prosperity Summit, African Philanthropy Forum, and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the Lagos gathering brought together leading families, business executives, investment institutions, philanthropic actors, development partners, and policymakers.

Participants explored how True Family Offices are emerging as holistic governance systems that strengthen families, preserve and grow wealth, steward capital with purpose, and catalyse resilient and inclusive economic development.

“A True Family Office is a governance system that strengthens the family’s relationships, values, decision-making, well-being, next-generation readiness, and the many forms of non-financial capital that ultimately determine how financial capital is created, preserved, and used,” said Barry Johnson, Founder and Executive Chairman of 7 Generations Africa and 7GI. “When families govern these domains well, their money becomes better governed. Well-governed capital then becomes catalytic, supporting entrepreneurs, strengthening national systems, and advancing the continent’s development priorities.”

Speakers also addressed obstacles to Family Office formation in the region, including a lack of awareness and expert guidance, limited public understanding, regulatory ambiguity, and the historical export of African wealth to offshore financial centres.