$750 million fund linked to Nigerian pensions
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
Nigeria and the United Kingdom signed a draft $750 million infrastructure fund in Lagos, designed to mobilise pension assets to finance energy, transport and digital projects. According to the regulator PenCom, the agreement with FSD Africa also provides for the selection of a fund manager, an initiative already backed by 19 Nigerian pension funds.
Nigeria and the United Kingdom signed in Lagos, on 10 November, a draft $750 million infrastructure investment fund, designed to mobilise billions of dollars of assets from pension funds to finance development projects in Nigeria and other African markets. According to a statement from the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the agreement was signed by the Pension Industry Leadership Council (PILC) and by FSD Africa, a development agency funded by the United Kingdom. The initiative has already attracted the interest of 19 Nigerian pension funds.
Under the agreement, FSD Africa will provide technical expertise and advisory support to the PILC to create the platform, including by selecting a fund manager through competitive tender, approaching investors and development finance institutions, and supporting the necessary regulatory reforms. The capital expected is to fund energy, transport and digital infrastructure.
Jonny Baxter, deputy British High Commissioner in Lagos, said the partnership illustrated the shared commitment of the two countries to mobilise domestic capital, particularly that of pension funds, for productive investment. Omolola Oloworaran, director general of PenCom and chair of the PILC, described the platform as timely.
