By Chuks Emele
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, which manages the country’s wealth fund, reported a significant jump in 2020 annual income as it expects an equally good performance in the current year.
The agency reported a more than threefold growth in income and increased the value of its assets by more than 33 percent to 772.75 billion naira, according to a statement on the website of the body known as NSIA.
“Despite the challenges of Covid-19, NSIA had a strong year owing to strong performance from its investments in international capital markets, improved contribution from subsidiaries and exchange gain from currency positions, ” the agency said in the statement.
NSIA also said its finances were further boosted by the additional contribution of $250 million by the government to its funds. Key infrastructure projects that attracted its funding during 2020 included the Lagos-Ibadan highway, the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road, the East-West highway in the Niger Delta and the Second Niger Bridge.
The wealth fund sees a bright outlook for the current year on the back of a “broader market recovery” as it increases participation in venture capital and global stocks, especially European equities.
“NSIA expects that the outlook for 2021 would be positive,” Managing Director Uchenna Orji told reporters. “However, we expect bouts of volatility as global markets adjust and recover from the impact of the pandemic. “
Set up in 2014, the agency’s mandate is to invest savings from Nigeria’s earnings from oil and gas exports. It includes an infrastructure fund, a stabilization fund for budget support in times of revenue shortfalls and future generations fund set aside for the long term.