Low Oil Prices Limit Sovereign Wealth Fund Deposits

“The weakness in crude oil prices might persist for the foreseeable future, thereby potentially impacting on new contributions from the federation,” Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority Chairman Mahey Rasheed said in its 2014 annual report released on Thursday. “Consequently, I do not anticipate a substantial growth in the funds under management through that source.”

• The Abuja-based wealth fund, set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, invests revenue generated when the oil price exceeds that budgeted by the government. Nigeria relies on crude exports for about 95 percent of its foreign-currency earnings and about two-thirds of state revenue.
• Despite “volatile market conditions,” the fund saw net comprehensive income rise to 15.8 billion naira ($79.4 million) in the year through December, from 525 million naira in the 15 months through the end of 2013, Chief Executive Officer Uche Orji told reporters in Lagos, the commercial capital. The fund’s total assets were 177.8 billion naira.