Nigeria: FG Appoints Ex-JP Morgan MD to Head Sovereign Fund

Former Managing Director of JP Morgan Uche Orji has been appointed to run the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) for the next five, the Minister of Finance said yesterday.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also said at a press briefing in Abuja that Alhaji Mahey Rasheed will serve as chairman of the board with six other members. Alhaji Rasheed was a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a member of the Board of First Bank.

The minister also named Mrs. Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli as Chief Risk Officer of the fund.

Other members of the board include; Mr. Arnold Ekpe, Mr. Jide Zeitlin, Mrs. Bili Awosika, Barrister Bisi Soyebo and Alhaji Hassan Usman.

The position of the Chief Investment Officer was not announced yesterday because, "upon completion of due diligence, the candidate for Chief Investment Officer has been dropped and the position will be re-advertised shortly," the minister said.

The management team will commence work on October 2, with $1 billion set aside for it.

Okonjo-Iweala said the SWF will run side by side with the Excess Crude Account, which currently has a balance of $7.35 billion.

The initial idea was to close the Excess Crude Account when the SWF takes effect.

Governors had initially opposed the establishment of the SWF but later gave their approval. The governors normally pressurize the president to take certain amounts from the Excess Crude Account for them to share.

The management team were chosen after a process that lasted almost a year.

Before the team was selected, 730 applications were received for three executive positions - Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director (Investments) and Executive Director, (Risk).

Forty of these were listed by KPMG which assisted in sourcing suitable candidates and 16 candidates were short listed before the final three were selected.

With this development, the country is firmly on the path to reaping the benefits of this tried and tested strategy for achieving fiscal prudence and economic transformation.

"The establishment of an institutional foundation for the Sovereign Wealth Fund is a victory for all Nigerians and a credit to the President who assented to the Bill in May last year," the Minister said.

The SWF has three components - Future Generations Fund; Nigerian Infrastructure Fund and Stabilization Fund. Each of the fund will attracts 20 percent of any SWF finding, while "the remaining 40 percent will be decided by the macroeconomic condition of the economy."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201208290764.html

Looks like he has a good resume and fit for the job.

Hope he delivers. Congrats and good luck.

What are the perks that come with managing these types of funds

He was the Managing Director of UBS Investment Bank. And was previously a Managing Director of JP Morgan and Executive Director of Goldman Sach Asset Management.

Now that is an impressive resume.

Wish him well and best of lucks.Just hope we wont get to hear conflict of interests or commitee set up to probe SWF mismanagement as is the norm this days.God bless Nigeria

I am not going to jump for joy because of his "international" banking experience. I don't want to read about him and some multi-billion dollar fraud in the future.

JP Morgan Uche Orji has been appointed to run the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF)
... Alhaji Mahey Rasheed will serve as chairman of the board.

Pls, who is the head among the 2?

Hope he does his job fine.

SWF is what catapulted China to the Economic giant it is now, I have confidence that GEJ has gotten it right by institutionalizing Sovereign Wealth Fund. The greedy governors will henceforth desist from asking that the funds be shared to them.

talk true:

Pls, who is the head among the 2?

The board is the head! And d chairman can't take a final decision without the majority of d boards approval! the board should include both the MD, chairman and other members!

Billyonaire: SWF is what catapulted China to the Economic giant it is now, I have confidence that GEJ has gotten it right by institutionalizing Sovereign Wealth Fund. The greedy governors will henceforth desist from asking that the funds be shared to them.

Sovereign wealth funds can be used to bolster a country's economic clout. One can simply look at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and the Qatar Investment Authority and see how these countries have benefited from their Sovereign wealth funds.

Okija_juju: I know this thread will get hotter than this soon..

The Yoruba Ninjas are yet to notice that he is an Igbo Man.

^^^You're kidding me......Orji?; it doesn't get any more Igbo than that .

Could be the Ninjas are out for lunch .

If we want to progress, we should leave corruption. So if he has to head this department set up by GEJ, he should do it with all his heart and God almighty will be with him . I wish him luck.[b][/b]

Not some elite, not a general, not a prince of his village, but well educated man who has a great background. Nice move GEJ

If SWF goes public, I will be the first to buy the shares, I trust Orji to put his excellent experiences to bear. I need GEJ to enact a law that makes it illegal for any politician to have influences on how the funds are executed and appointment into the position should not be by political nominations but purely based on academic and work experience. Its time to take the steering of this country from Politicians to technocrats.

Okija_juju: I know this thread will get hotter than this soon..

The Yoruba Ninjas are yet to notice that he is an Igbo Man.

I taught you have repented nmuo okija, why the tribal sentiments, pls leave yorubas alone and face the topic. The yorubas also head many world organisations, u should be talking about the tribe that keeps on killing others and managing cbn but can't work in any international firm.

Billyonaire: If SWF goes public, I will be the first to buy the shares, I trust Orji to put his excellent experiences to bear. I need GEJ to enact a law that makes it illegal for any politician to have influences on how the funds are executed and appointment into the position should not be by political nominations but purely based on academic and work experience. Its time to take the steering of this country from Politicians to technocrats.

That is an excellent idea if Nigeria is to progress. There still needs to be some oversight.

Okija_juju: I know this thread will get hotter than this soon..

The Yoruba Ninjas are yet to notice that he is an Igbo Man.

Must u say everything u see

PROUD-IGBO:


^^^You're kidding me......Orji?; it doesn't get any more Igbo than that .

Could be the Ninjas are out for lunch .

You dumbasses always bring tribalism to the fore in everything,its a pity...stupid dickhead

miztapheek:

You dumbasses always bring tribalism to the fore in everything,its a pity...stupid dickhead

Just ignore the guy. Seriously, if some people are not silly, who will be our security guards ?

Good move GEJ, pls kill God fatherism in Nigeria, I think that is the only process that can guarantee more Nnajis in Government.

Okija_juju: I know this thread will get hotter than this soon..

The Yoruba Ninjas are yet to notice that he is an Igbo Man.

Let them come,I have my fully loaded AK 48 and uzi on standby.
Hope u re ready?

To everyone who is talking about their "tribe," my question for you is what have you done for your tribe? Or are you simply living in someone else's shadow?

Okija_juju: I know this thread will get hotter than this soon..

The Yoruba Ninjas are yet to notice that he is an Igbo Man.

Bia nwokem o gini bu nsogbu gi.? What have u achieved with this? Lets dwell on the issue at hand and leave out all this nonsense about tribe pls. Orji was appointed not bc he is Igbo but bc of his experience and supposed clouts. His being Igbo doesnt add anything to the job and it will surely not help him if he wants to succeed or fail.

I advice that man to stay wherever he is because in a few years his face will appear on EFCC list of wanted NIgerians. Nigerian government just want to turn everyone in sight to a thief.

Good move i will say now we can think as a nation on what can we invest?

I don't like the hero worship e.g this is the man in charge e.t.c its a primitive way of thinking or are we still in military rule "Na wahoo"

What we should be addressing is what are they going to invest in, or what will they do with the funds to protect, promote our interests and assets.

Okay so far (NSIA) Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, is number 76 on the list of international SWF with a start of capital of USD1billion. After 6mths lets see where NSIA will be, will they have climbed up that list or not. That is the true way to measure their performance. Here is a link to the list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund

Please mention[b]Possible investments[/b] that this body can make and the returns expected thank you.

I hope a large SWF saving does not the "OBJ power contract" way one day.

afam4eva: I advice that man to stay wherever he is because in a few years his face will appear on EFCC list of wanted NIgerians. Nigerian government just want to turn everyone in sight to a thief.

What have u said now?

ifihearam:

What have u said now?

Nothing. Can't you see that the post is empty, so you're quoting an empty post.

I pray this will not end the usually way.