The Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria’s Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji said the agency is seeking to take over underperforming government assets, including a power plant, as it transitions into an asset management firm.
Orji stated this on the sidelines of the launch of Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF) in Abuja noting that the agency is looking at many industrial projects and government-owned enterprises that are either moribund or not performing sub-optimally.
NSIA’s growth strategy was to take these assets and revitalise them, he said.
Orji cited “advanced discussions” with the government to take over a power plant that was 85% complete “but required a bit of capital to finish it”.
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Orji noted that imported inflationary pressures and the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the government would have to allocate significant resources to social spending that may affect capital increases for the fund.
According to him, 2022 will be very challenging… Equities are down but hedge funds are up, he said.
NSIA had “a lot of cash” to take advantage of the opportunities that existed in the equity market, he said. “But we will wait for it to bottom first.”
The market was still fraught with downside risk because the battle against inflation had “just begun”, he said.
To help curb inflation, NSIA invested in soil nutrient supply to increase agricultural output and help lower prices.
