NSIA, InfraCo Set to Enhance Nigeria’s Infrastructure

By Nume Ekeghe and Peter Uzoho

The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has said it will collaborate with the newly-established infrastructure company (infraCo) to support the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the establishment of the infraCo, a public-private partnership (PPP)-styled infrastructure company with an initial seed capital of N1 trillion to help address Nigeria’s huge infrastructure deficit.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar for journalists, organised by The Whistler Newspaper, the Head of Corporate Communications, NSIA, Mr. Titilope Olubiyi, said at the appropriate time, the agency would partner and provide its expert advice to infraCo to enable it succeed.

The seminar entitled: “COVID-19 and Journalist: Effective Reporting of the NNPC, PenCom and NSIA”, had the Senior Lecturer, Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos, Dr. Tayo Popoola; and a former Correspondent at Bloomberg, Mr. Vincent Nwanma, as facilitators.

“If you look at all the announcements that were made, our Managing Director will serve on the board of InfraCo. So, we expect that there will be times where NSIA will partner with InfraCo and perhaps at other times, as the opportunity presents itself, we expect that we will probably advise on projects because we have been in the infrastructure space for quite some time.

“We, are delighted with the development. Indeed, we were part of the process leading up to the announcement”, Olubiyi said.

He explained that the Authority has three core funds which include the Stabilisation Fund, which essentially helps the country to stabilise its economy in times of economic stress.

He said the first call on that Stabilisation fund happened last year when the federal government withdrew $150 million to help stabilise the economy that was heavily hit by the impact of COVID-19.

Olubiyi also said that the second Fund is the Future Generations Fund, a transgenerational wealth management mechanism where the agency manages funds for the benefit of future generations of Nigeria by investing in various assets.

He added that the third mandate was the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund which essentially caters to the present need of Nigerians in terms of infrastructure development.

Meanwhile, the facilitators at the seminar advised business and energy journalists covering the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Pensions Commission (PenCom) and the NSIA to up their game by engaging in thorough research of the agencies and adoption of emerging technologies to help them effectively report them.