Building Cohesion, Ensuring Success, and Creating Impact

Family Business Initiative

The Lagos Business School Family Business Initiative (LBS-FBI) is an initiative of the Lagos Business School with the mission to inspire enterprising families in Africa to ensure family cohesion, business success, and significant ethical and societal impact.
The LBS-FBI understands family enterprises' unique challenges in securing their legacy across generations and is positioned to cater to their needs. We collaborate with industry leaders to empower African families, fostering cohesion, business success, and societal impact. Together, we are building a vibrant community of scholars, consultants, and esteemed business leaders committed to advancing family firms across the continent.

Goals and Objectives

The LBS-FBI aims to make intellectual contributions by positively impacting African family businesses through advisory services, case studies, teaching materials, seminars, conferences, and family business awards. We plan to achieve:

Capacity

Capacity Building - management practices, family unity, professional ethics, and service to the community through family business success.

Knowledge

Knowledge dissemination - through advisory, case studies, teaching materials, publication of family business magazines, and giving family business awards.

Research

Academic and Industry Research - Intellectual contributions through quality research provide insights that contribute to the advancement of family businesses.

Sustainability

Self-financing and Sustainability - to become Africa's foremost Family Business Centre.

Key Objectives

The Lagos Business School Family Business Initiative is dedicated to strengthening family businesses across all sectors through impactful programs and resources.
Our core activities are designed to enhance the capabilities of family-owned companies and create lasting value for generations. We achieve this through:
Training and Education for Family Businesses
We deliver specialised business management courses tailored for family-owned businesses. These programs focus on critical areas such as leadership succession within
families, financial strategy for long-term family wealth, innovation in family businesses, technology integration relevant to family operations, and ethical practices specific to family-run organisations.
Advisory and Consulting for Family Businesses
We offer customised consulting and advisory services designed explicitly for family-owned
organisations. Our expertise helps improve operational efficiency, strategic planning for generational transitions, and achieving sustainable growth while maintaining family values. We also create tailored solutions for family-led startups and established family businesses facing unique challenges in their respective industries within the African landscape.
Family Business Case Study Development and Educational Resources
We develop insightful case studies highlighting successful family-owned business models across various sectors, innovative approaches to family governance, and ethical leadership within African family businesses.
Furthermore, we create practical leadership guides, manuals, and teaching resources to equip family members and employees in family businesses with essential knowledge for sustained success across generations.
Research and Insights on Family Businesses
We conduct industry and academic research to identify current challenges and opportunities for family businesses operating in the African business environment across all sectors. Our findings provide evidence-based recommendations to drive progress and ensure the longevity of family-owned enterprises.
Thought Leadership and Advocacy for Family Businesses
We actively promote best practices in managing and governance family businesses, emphasising ethical operations and family values. We advocate by working with policymakers and relevant organisations to create a supportive ecosystem for family-owned businesses across all sectors. We also convene and participate in key industry events to discuss emerging trends, challenges and innovations relevant to African family businesses.
Networking and Community Building
We cultivate a robust network of leaders, experts, and entrepreneurs from family-owned
businesses across diverse industries to facilitate resource sharing, collaboration on family business challenges, and mutual professional support within the family business context.
We also host forums and roundtable discussions for family businesses to encourage knowledge exchange on family business topics and build strong partnerships within the African family
business community.

Programmes and Events

Carefully tailored programmes, initiatives and events aimed at scaling your family business.

International Family Business Conference (IFBC) 2026

The LBS Family Business Initiative hosts its annual conferences to create a dedicated learning environment where enterprising families can reflect on their journey, deepen their understanding, and recalibrate their strategies for continuity. Each year provides a focused opportunity for families to step away from daily operations and engage with global insights, research, and real-life case studies that illuminate the evolving dynamics of governance, leadership, culture, and capital within family enterprises. By gathering owners, next-generation leaders, and advisors in one room, the conference fosters meaningful dialogue and shared learning that strengthens decision‑making and reduces the isolation that families often experience when navigating complex transitions.

Beyond learning, the annual conference serves as a platform for families to benchmark their progress and build relationships within a community committed to long‑term continuity. Family enterprises rarely fail due to a lack of technical expertise; they falter when unity, communication, and shared purpose begin to erode. By revisiting key themes each year and advancing the conversation with greater depth, the LBS FBI helps families stay proactive rather than reactive. The conference ensures that lessons from previous years are not only understood but applied, supporting families as they institutionalise structures, cultivate stewardship, and embed a culture capable of sustaining a lasting legacy.

Managing the Family Business to Last Beyond Its Founders

The LBS Family Business Initiative delivers its virtual seminar, Managing the Family Business to Last Beyond Its Founders, to ensure that essential knowledge for strengthening and sustaining family enterprises is accessible to all who need it. Family businesses face significant challenges, including governance and institutionalisation, managing relationships between family and non‑family employees, and navigating inter‑generational succession. Because these issues concern a wide range of stakeholders, owners, spouses, children, siblings, in‑laws, board members, senior executives, financial institutions, and professional advisors, the online delivery allows every participant to join regardless of location or schedule. This flexibility ensures that learning does not interrupt business operations while enabling families to address the very real risks that threaten continuity beyond the founder’s generation.

The virtual format also aligns with the seminar’s structured, module‑based design. Managing the Family Business to Last Beyond Its Founders is delivered over two weeks with focused sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, making it easy for participants to engage meaningfully without extended time away from their enterprises. Facilitated by LBS faculty and industry experts, the online experience preserves the rich interaction, practical insights, and real‑world application for which the programme is known. By offering the seminar online, LBS ensures that more families can build the professional management skills, governance structures, and succession strategies necessary to enhance sustainability, maintain harmony, and secure the long‑term legacy of their businesses.

Governance and Succession in Family Businesses II

This intensive course offers a thorough understanding of governance and succession planning in family businesses. It highlights the essential role of these elements in ensuring business continuity, family harmony, and successful leadership transitions across generations.

Participants will examine frameworks, strategies, and practical tools to handle the complexities of family relationships, develop effective governance structures, and plan for smooth leadership and ownership succession.

Through real-world case studies and interactive sessions, this course equips participants with actionable insights to strengthen their family businesses for future generations.

Governance and Succession in Family Businesses III

This intensive course offers a thorough understanding of governance and succession planning in family businesses. It highlights the essential role of these elements in ensuring business continuity, family harmony, and successful leadership transitions across generations.

Participants will examine frameworks, strategies, and practical tools to handle the complexities of family relationships, develop effective governance structures, and plan for smooth leadership and ownership succession.

Through real-world case studies and interactive sessions, this course equips participants with actionable insights to strengthen their family businesses for future generations.

Contact Information

Email: familybusiness@lbs.edu.ng