1st August, 2013
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Thursday that the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) would help to manage the pension funds, to enhance investment in infrastructure in the country.
She made the remark in Abuja, at the official announcement of the sovereign wealth fund for investment.
“One of the benefits of having this sovereign wealth fund is not just for the organisations that want to co-invest, but they will also help us work along with our pension funds.
“They are designing at the moment; a mechanism that will enable us to manage our pension funds, to invest in infrastructure development.
According to her, it has to be done very carefully, to earn returns.
“If this is achieved, the nation’s pension funds will be managed in a protected way,” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala said that the one billion dollars for the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund had been allocated to three key areas of Future Generations, Nigerian Infrastructure and Stabilisation Funds.
She said that 200 million dollars had been allocated to the stabilisation fund, while 325 million dollars were allocated to infrastructure development and future generations funds, respectively.
The minister added that the balance of the funds would be decided according to the law.
Okonjo-Iweala noted that the NSIA would use top flight investment advisers such as JP Morgan, the Citi Group, among others, to ensure professionalism.
The Chairman, Board of Directors of NSIA, Mr Mahye Rasheed, said that the authority had taken off with all the requisite staff and technology, to enable the office operate effectively.
He said that the board had met four times and had set up all its governance structure and approved the investment policy statement.
The Chief Executive Officer, NSIA, Mr Uche Orji, said the Fund would soon announce the basic areas of infrastructure investment.
He listed the areas to include roads and bridges, health, housing, power, agriculture, water resources and Aviation.
Orji said that the investment allocation formula approved by the board allocated 32.5 per cent of the fund to the future generation and infrastructure fund, while the stabilisation fund would have 20 per cent.
“The 15 per cent will be kept as unallocated for now and be used to top up each of the ring-fenced funds as opportunities arise,’’ he said.
Orji added that JP Morgan had been appointed as the global custodian, while Stanbic IBTC was appointed as the local custodian of the funds.
He said that the executive Memorandum of Understanding had been signed with other partners such as General Electric, the African Finance Corporation and the International Finance Corporation.
Orji also announced the appointment of Mr Hanspeter Ackermann as its Chief Investment Officer, adding that he would be responsible for leading the investment assessments and evaluations of the NSIA. (NAN)