SEC to establish N100bn health fund to support COVID-19 fight

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will establish a N100 billion Strategic Health Impact Fund for Transformation (SHIFT) to support the fight against COVID-19 in the country. The Director-General of SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, said this at the first 2021 post-Capital Market Committee virtual news conference in Abuja on Thursday. Yuguda said the fund would be invested in the healthcare assets of the country.

He noted that the capital market community would not relent in the support against the pandemic, as the market had earlier contributed to the fight. ”The pandemic and its attendant lockdown had negative effect on the Nigerian economy in the year 2020 leading to a recession within the year.

”Despite this challenge, the NSE All-Share Index was adjudged by Bloomberg as the best performing index in 2020. In spite of the turbulence experienced with the outbreak of the pandemic, the Nigerian capital market stood resilient.

”To this end, our next phase of the support in the fight against COVID-19 will be the establishment of the Strategic Health Impact Fund for Transformation. May I use this medium to reiterate our commitment to advance the development and integrity of the Nigerian capital market,” he said. (NAN)