The Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Uche Orji has said that Nigeria needs to make investments in infrastructure more attractive in order to address the infrastructure gaps in the country.
Orji said this on Arise TV during a monitored interview.
He explained that the NSIA may not invest in unattractive infrastructural projects.
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Orji said, “We need to turn infrastructure into investable assets that have more economic values as opposed to just doing the roads, leaving it and not monetising it.
“The idea is to package the project as investment entities and offer them to investors. Looking at Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, I did a tour of it recently and I could see an incredibly profitable project; but it’s just being allowed to waste. So the essence of this is to turn infrastructure into investable assets.
“National investment is everybody’s business. Pensions funds will invest, NSIA will invest and it is also open for individuals and organisations to invest because we believe these are all profitable projects.”
The NSIA boss admitted that Africa’s largest oil producer cannot afford building its infrastructure without private sector participation.
Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum had declared intentions to borrow from the Pensions Fund, but the CEO while reacting said the plan was not done in isolation, adding that the outcome was to turn infrastructure into investable assets.
He added, “This is an investment opportunity and not an attempt to raid or grab the pension funds. All these are still talked about and worked on; none of them is operational yet. There is a lot of structuring and consultation that needs to be done.
“We are still a little bit far away from real implementation but this is about turning infrastructure into investment opportunities for both the NSIA and the pension funds.
“If it does not work for the NSIA, it will not invest. And I will assume that pension funds managers and administrators will not invest if it does not work for them.”