The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced on Wednesday that the state plans to establish a Sovereign Investment Fund for strategic future investments.
Governor Sanwo-Olu made this statement during a courtesy visit by the Executive Management of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), led by its Managing Director/CEO, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, at Lagos House, Marina.
The Governor urged the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority to consider investing in Lagos State Government projects, including the Lekki Airport, Rail, Film City, and Food Logistics Hub.
What he said, “We, as a subnational, are planning to set up a Sovereign Investment Fund and it is not out of place because we also realised that the Sovereign Fund is critical. It is critical because you can starve yourself a little bit to provide for the future by setting something aside for the future. I think it is always a prudent thing to do. It is not out of place for subnationals to have funds working for today and for the future.”
“I am aware you (NSIA) have a massive oncology centre in LUTH (Lagos University Teaching Hospital). We believe Lagos actually requires about four or five of such facilities across the state. So, we as a government are planning to support another investor to set up another one so that we can have a way to meet the growing needs of our citizens to reverse medical tourism.”
“In Lagos, we pride ourselves on being able to do more if we can get the resources to work with. We have an airport project that we have conceived and are pushing to get financial closure. You can take on the project. We have a Film City in Lagos, which is a massive entertainment city that we are planning to build. It is the future of the creative industry. These are investments we have in Lagos you might look at.”
NSIA generates N1.6 trillion income
Earlier, Umar-Sadiq explained that the NSIA is a legally established institution responsible for managing funds for the benefit of future generations of Nigerians.
He revealed that last year, the fund achieved a total comprehensive income of approximately N1.6 trillion and core earnings of N200 billion.
Umar-Sadiq stated that the NSIA would continue to position itself as the preferred asset manager for both the federal and state governments in Nigeria.
He mentioned that the NSIA would remain available for use by government actors at both levels and emphasized leveraging their services for the benefit of the Center of Excellence.
