Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance, has urged foreign investors to continue to invest in Nigeria through the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
Okonjo-Iweala made this known at a meeting with Business Council for International Understanding at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.
She said that Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) had been rated second most transparent in the world after that of Norway.
“The NSWF has now been rated the second most transparent after Norway by the Sovereign Wealth Fund institute and that is saying a lot.
“I think there are encouraging signs that we have an institution that is going to be a solid building block for our economy going forward.
“We hope most of the investors would take a very detailed interest in trying to work with Nigeria,’’ she said.
The minister said though the fund started with one billion dollars but an addition 550 million dollars had been given to it.
She said that government was working on a permanent source of increasing the capital of this institution.
“So the idea is that this is not going to be an institution of one billion or 1.5 billion dollars entity but we are working toward five billion dollars to begin with and it will grow.
“And we are already seeing some good results in its investments. What we are excited about is the ability to co-invest.
“We have got a charter that allows them to invest in the economy unlike many other SWFs which operates the old model of channeling liquidity and capital outside,’’ she said.
The minister said that the NSWF was helping to develop the economy and many more models were now taking a cue from it.
She explained that the fund had fantastic ability to attract good capital for co-investments for some of the more prestigious firms and industries.
“So it is in that regard that I invite you to look at this relationship, this is one of the most important institutions in Nigeria,’’ she said.
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