Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority
(NSIA), the establishment vested with the
responsibility of managing the Nigeria
Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), lamented
yesterday that the dwindling oil revenue
had affected contribution to the fund
drastically.
The managing director and chief executive
officer of the Fund, Uche Orji, who stated
this after briefing President Mohammadu
Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja,
lamented that apart from the initial
$1billion which was a take-off
contribution from the government, the
Authority had not received any other
money.
He revealed, however, that the Fund had
made a profit of N15.7billion in the last
one year, and observed that to attract
more funds, the Authority had engaged
the services of the African Finance
Cooperation which would advise it
accordingly.
Orji said, “We met with the president to
brief him on the activities and the
investments of the NSIA. We also
discussed the commitment of the NSIA on
the Second Niger Bridge, health care,
agriculture and power. We also sought his
support where his intervention is required
and it was a successful meeting with the
president.
“The government gave us $1billion, which
is the only contribution we have received,
and we made N15.7billion profit last year
from the contribution. We haven’t got
additional funding from government but
the fund is structured in a way that it can
go through hard times.
“We all know that the oil price is volatile
– it comes up and goes down – but the
fund is structured in such a way that it
can remain continuously profitable.
“We also discussed potential
infrastructure investments that can be
made, but when the time is right the
president can make that known.”
The MD revealed that the SWF was
supposed to be funded when the oil price
is above benchmark, adding that since
the oil price is presently below the
benchmark, it would be meaningless for
the government to make any contributions
now.
“But they are other ways to support the
fund which we have discussed with the
president, but when the time is ripe, that
will be made known by the president’s
spokesperson.

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venue-affecting-swf-nsia