Afrinvest, three others to manage Nigeria’s N15trn Infrastructure Fund

Afrinvest West Africa, Sanlam Infraworks; AIIM, Chapel Hill Denham; and Tripple A have been selected by Nigeria to manage the nation’s recently floated Infrastructure Corporation Nigeria Limited. The Federal Government it was gathered selected the four asset managers to run the N15 trillion fund for the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria Limited (Infra-Co) which is set up to drive investment in roads, railways and power projects in Nigeria. The Acting Director, Corporate Communications of CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, in a statement, said that Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, had approved the hiring of the fund managers for the company.

According to a wire news service report, the selected asset managers include Netherlands-based Sanlam Infraworks; AIIM, a unit of South Africa’s Old Mutual Group; Lagos-based Chapel Hill Denham; and Tripple A, a consortium comprising AfricaPlus Partners and Arc Asset Management as well as Afrinvest West Africa, a Nigerian investment bank. President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier this year approved the Federal Government’s seed capital of N1trillion for the take-off of the infrastructure company that would help close Nigeria’s huge infrastructure deficit. The fund managers are expected to raise the rest of the required funds.

A senior CBN official said that more than one fund manager was selected to ensure adequate coverage of the country. The CBN Governor had earlier acknowledged that the establishment of the InfraCo, which is under Public-Private Partnership, has generated a lot of interest from both local and international private sector fund managers. In November 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the establishment of an infrastructure company that would be wholly focused on critical infrastructural investments in the country. The infrastructure company was expected to raise funds for this responsibility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Africa Finance Corporation, Pension Funds, as well as local and foreign private sector development financiers.

This will help boost infrastructure investments to stimulate economic growth after exiting its second recession in 4 years, in the fourth quarter. It will also bridge the infrastructural gap in the country, with Nigeria needing at least $3 trillion over 30 years to close its infrastructure deficit. The CBN had, in March 2021, appointed KPMG LLP as transaction adviser for its newly set up infrastructure fund after the consideration of bids by other firms which include PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Co.