04-30-2019, 10:26 AM
NSIA grows $1.5bn sovereign wealth fund by $350m
Published April 30, 2019
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Published April 30, 2019
Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja
The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, which is the agency managing the Sovereign Wealth Fund, said it had grown the seed capital of $1.5bn given to it by the Federal Government by about $350m.
The fund set up in 2013 with about $1.5bn has three pots from which investments could be anchored.
The pots are the Future Generation Fund, Infrastructure Fund, and Fiscal Stabilisation Fund.
Speaking on the 2018 financial performance of the fund, the Managing Director, Mr Uche Orji, explained that the management of the NSIA had committed significant capital across all the three ring-fenced funds.
He said despite concerns over international trade flows, slow growth in key economic indicators and increased volatility across financial markets, the Authority’s investment strategy proved robust with headline numbers maintaining a favourable trajectory across the three funds.
For instance, he said total comprehensive income including the impact of foreign exchange gains rose from N27.93bn in 2017 to N44.34bn in 2018.
Similarly, the NSIA boss explained that total assets recorded a growth of 16 per cent to N617.70bn in 2018 as against the 2017 figure of N533.88bn.
He put the rate of return on the core funds at 7.2 per cent for the stabilisation fund, 8.3 per cent for the future generation fund and 7.7 per cent for the infrastructure fund
The NSIA boss said going forward; the agency would increase its focus on domestic infrastructure projects specifically in agriculture, healthcare, and roads, among others.
He said already, the NSIA had reached financial closure on three healthcare projects including a Cancer Centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and Advanced Diagnostic Centres at Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.
He said while the cancer centre at LUTH had been inaugurated, that of the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital would be completed before the end of June.
In the area of agriculture, he said under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative, the NSIA had increased output with approximately 12 million bags of fertiliser produced with a total of 18 blending plants participating in the programme.
In the area of infrastructure, he said through the $650m Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, the NSIA had commenced capital deployment across three of the major road projects under the fund.
The projects are Second Niger Bridge, Lagos – Ibadan Expressway and Abuja-Zaria-Kaduna-Kano Road.
On projects to be implemented in the 2019 fiscal period, Orji said that the NSIA would intensify the process of choosing a strategic partner for its investment in Nigeria’s Commodities Exchange.
On the economic outlook for the rest of the year, he said, “There are no apparent expectations of recession risks in 2019.
“However, the Authority continues to monitor the market conditions with the view to leverage the upside risks that avail themselves in the market. We expect that our strategy will continue to deliver positive returns.
“The deployment of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund will play a key part of our infrastructure investment strategy for the year.
“Healthcare remains a focus area going forward with the implementation of the next phase of diagnostic and treatment centres.
“The board has also approved Gas industrialisation as an area of focus.
Increased focus and capital deployment in Infrastructure is likely to affect future returns.”
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