FG to contribute $1 billion in fresh capital under new plan

According to various media reports, the Federal Government is proposing to raise Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to $4.5 billion by 2018, canceling out earlier fears that the fund may not receive additional capital due to falling oil prices.

The Nigerian SWF, managed by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) still has about $1.5 billion assets under its management since inception in 2011.

But the new proposal, which is coming some weeks after fund managers raised concerns about weak oil prices dampening hopes of additional contributions to the Fund, is really aimed at injecting at least $1 billion each year for the next three years into the Fund.

According to Asoko Insight, the proposal is contained in a draft of the 2016 budget and Medium Term Plan (2016-2020) as seen by BusinessDay, which also highlights plans to raise the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to $4.5 billion by 2018 and grow foreign reserves to $7.28 billion as well.

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The policy document is still being reviewed and it has six main pillars, including economy, social development, governance, infrastructure, environment, as well as states and regional development, which would form the core of fiscal expenditure between 2016 and 2020.

If the proposal pulls through, it would bring total assets under the management of the NSIA to at least $2.5 billion by the end of next year.

With $1.55 billion in total assets, Nigeria’s SWF ranks 52 out of the 84 SWFs all over the globe.