The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has announced the investment of $5 million in the Chapelhill Denham Infrastructure Fund. Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of the NSIA Uche Orji confirmed the transaction and stated the NSIA’s optimism about it.
“We are pleased to support NIDF, as it is consistent with NSIA’s strategy of enabling Nigeria pension fund participation in infrastructure development, makes available long-term Naira financing. We look forward to working with the NIDF team to ensure the fund grows through further institutional investor participation and access to high-quality investments.
The Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund is the first listed infrastructure debt fund in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. NIDF is a close-ended fund, domiciled in Nigeria and denominated in Naira. The investment focus of NIDF is on the traditional infrastructure sectors, primarily transport, power, renewable energy, utilities, energy infrastructure (e.g. storage terminals), logistics and other public-private-partnership type investments.
The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) came into law in 2011, after then president Goodluck Jonathan assented to the act establishing it.Its prinicipal role is to manage excess crude oil funds. Excess crude oil funds is revenue made beyond the crude oil benchmark in a particular year
.It commenced operations in 2012, with a start up capital of $1 billion dollars and is divided into three: the Stabilisation Fund, the Future Generations Fund and the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund. The fund is the third largest in sub saharan Africa after Botswana and Angola. It is expected to replace the Excess Crude Account (ECA) which was established in 2004, by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
ChapelHill Denham is an investment banking, securities trading and investment management firm. The company emerged from the combination of Chapel Hill Advisory Partners Limited (‘Chapel Hill’) and Denham Management Limited (“Denham”) in February 2008. Denham commenced business in July 1994 as an Asset Management and Broker/Dealer firm, registered by the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Chapel Hill was founded in April 2005 as a financial advisory firm, registered by the SEC.
