Finance
Long-term financing: Nigeria to float Infrastructure Development Bank
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy, Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has disclosed on the sideline of the IMF/World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Washington that the Nigerian Government’s new economic thrust has been to efficiently channel the country towards becoming a non-oil economy by the time the on-going transformations embarked by the present administration get to an end.
To this effect, an Infrastructure Development Bank will soon be launched in the country in an effort to provide long-term investments in the critical sectors of the economy.
The minister made this known to Nigerian journalists in Washington DC over the weekend, after a meeting with a focused group of Sovereign Wealth Funds managers across the globe.
The minister who analysed the contents of the country’s rebased GDP, noted that the new economic status of the country may have encouraged the intensification of the on-going expansion of certain segments of the economy which have now shown new growth potentials than the oil and gas sector.
Also at Business council meeting with institutional investors in the US, the Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority(NSIA) Uche Orji said the body has invested in Seven Energy which is part of the gas to power fund. He said,
“We invested $100 million in NSIA instrument with Seven Energy alongside Seven Energy bond for the same instrument but ours come with considerations.
We invested in Seven Energy to complete a gas pipeline to deliver gas to Calabar NIPP and also to deliver gas production out of their gas facility to help deliver gas to power. That pipeline when completed will help Calabar NIPP get started. It is already at 650 mega watt capacity.
He disclosed that the “gas to power investment has started. There are two other things in our pipeline that hopefully, we should complete by the end of this year also in enabling gas to power. $10 million has been done and we have other investors who are part of that project. We have IFC, Terracet all in the same Seven Energy.
There are other small projects that hopefully, we should be able to conclude before the end of the year. One of the major things that have happened is that we have completed investment in gas to power.
The second thing is that we have continued to make significant progress in equity investment and maybe in respect to what might have been written about NSIA, the reality is that out of about some equity managers that we have invested with, three are either focused on Nigeria or in Africa.So our private equity allocation is pretty done in terms of all these investments.
Private equity usually takes time to show return, but when they tend to show return, they tend to return somewhere an average of 20 to 25 percent. This is the kind of return that we expect, which over the period should yield two to three times our investment for the future generation fund.
“The infrastructure fund, overall, is going on well. Some investors have made commitments, these continue. The Second Niger Bridge continues. Lagos-Ibadan continues to go through.
Many others are showing interests more than the amount we committed on the Second Niger Bridge and Lagos –Ibadan expressway, but that project will be formally announced by the key officials in the Federal Ministry of Works but our commitment has been there and we are ready for the two major toll road projects.
“The point here overall is that reform continues. One other thing that has dominated conversation for NSIA is our efforts at establishing the Nigerian Credit Enhancement Facility. This facility is a very important initiative of the NSIA. We started working on it late last year and hopefully, sometime by the end of this year, we will start to work on implementing it.
What is Nigerian Enhancement Credit Facility?
“The idea here is to provide the facility that provides some kind of enhancement to make it easy for pension fund and insurance company to participate in credit enhancement.
The question most Nigerians keep asking is, how do we get this pension fund to participate in the process? The challenge some of the insurance firms have is they need a form of guarantee or insurance that makes it easy for a pension company to invest in insurance.
NSIA has been involved for the last six months to develop the facility. The NSIA cannot provide guarantee, but the NSIA can invest in a guarantee, so this is a conversation that we have had.
Our Q2 results came in line, it met our expectations, while Q3 as the business generally become more challenging was very difficult as a whole so it is operating with the same cyclical movement of the market.
What is the value of your portfolio now?
There hasn’t been new contribution but for the first two quarters of the year, we can talk of about N1.5 billion profit for Q1 and it is slightly more than that in Q2. The second quarter was about N100 million higher. Q3 just ended, it will be audited before can use the number.
Are you not concerned about the lack of contribution after the initial seed money was released two years ago coupled with the opposition from state governments?
Let me say two things. Number one, a case is in court so there is little I can say in order to avoid sub-judice. But let us establish three premises.
Number one, NSIA is not being sued. Nobody is suing NSIA.The case between the states and the federal government, to the best of my knowledge is about the use of funds in the ECA of which obviously funds were brought to NSIA. We are not being sued and the operation of the NSIA continues.
Second, sovereign wealth fund, where there is a true democracy is usually controversial and so I didn’t approach this job thinking there wont be controversy .
As successful as Norwegian sovereign wealth is, I remember, because I was at Godlman Search management which used to manage some portion of the fund as far back as 1996, it has been controversial., even as at today, there is tension between future generation who thinks that because there is money now, we should spend it and a group which says, let us keep saving.
My sense and my view is that this fund tends to weather the challenges and survive and many of this type of major policies, in most countries are faced with similar challenges.
Let me tell you that in the 1920s when the social security, was introduced, it became very controversial as people carried placards and today, it has come to stay. Those type of challenges happened at the early lives of good policies. It will be foolish not to expect this not to happen.
We should look at examples of people who have done it in the past and let us stick with it. It is not about whether we have new contributions now or not. We haven’t even finished utilizing the one given to us but let us look at it from the point of view that 40 years from now, we will be able to look back and say we did this.
If we had done this say in 1974 by setting aside some fund in terms of performance, we would have significant savings by now. That is how we should look at it as opposed to worrying about some of the teething issues. And that is not to say those issues are not important, but the point is we should look more forward about what this fund is doing. We should not face flat at the first hurdle.
There are about 50 sovereign wealth fund in existence, less than 10 started with a billion dollars, others started with smaller amounts and with discipline they grew more significantly.
Spending a billion dollars wisely is not that easy. Let us focus and get it done. The good news for us is that the federal government, through third party agency, has released $550 million of third party asset we are managing. The economics is very different because we share the difference with the agencies that own them.
So, the money invested for DMO, we will share the returns with the DMO. The money we are investing on behalf of the Bulk Purchaser, we will share the return with the Bulk Purchaser because it is a third party management. It is encouraging because we could through that process bring assets into NSIA. I believe we should be very optimistic because at the end of the day, you can remember what has happened to oil price.
If there is any reason why we feel we must save, it is what is happening today. It is for the future generation of Nigerians and I say that because we were 20 years younger in some cases, more when the First Gulf war took place. If we had started doing the saving by putting aside, substantial amount of money, it would have been great.
We are here now, what happened to that money? It is about discipline and investing, and that is what the administration is trying to achieve. Am I disappointed as a person? The answer is no. We are investing what was given us and that we will stay at it and make it successful going forward.
The Federal Government has just launched a 30 –month infrastructure masterplan, how does the NSIA key into this?
We were consulted, we were part of infrastructure masterplan. We are keying in in so many levels. There are about 18 sectors that are investible by third party.
We are keying in in areas where we can add value. We have a clear business plan and for third party investment. Our asset base is very tiny at this stage, so we have chosen six sectors and we will get to other sectors later. We started with agriculture where we have investment in agriculture, providing infrastructure for small holder farmers.
We are looking at healthcare. Hopefully, in the next few months you will see our investments in healthcare. We are working on centre for advanced medicine. Very soon, we will be able to announce our progress. I told you we will be investing in a gas processing plant. We are looking at investing in motorway. We believe motorway is another avenue for investment
The minister who addressed a focus group in the company of Uche Orji, CEO of Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority(NSIA), noted that with the deployment of the funds towards some critical areas of the economy such as the SMEs, agriculture, pipeline infrastructure development,power plant projects, motorways, second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, the fund will become of great internal need than the indication where the plan would have been to extend liquidity to external demands. She said that all these efforts are targeted at improving the capacities of new GDP.
“After rebasing the GDP of the economy one year ago, the economy is seen to have been getting more diversified as there is a very strong push to make Nigeria a non-oil economy. All the sectors have added new values even though oil and gas will remain very important , as we still have the 9th largest oil and gas reserves in the world.
“We will soon launch an Infrastructure Development Bank.”
which has already gained support from some institutions across the world as financial partners”, the minister said.
The minister told the world in Washington that, the NSIA is already a very success story as it has posted good investment returns over a small period of time with less than $2 billion equity capital.
The organisation which has recently concluded a $100 million investment in Seven Energy Group,a private equity oil and gas company, is believed to have been targetting new equity issues that will offer good returns to investors and value to the entire economy.
The Seven Energy Investment which is made up of gas pipe-line projects in the country will fast-track the Calabar NIPP project which also has an IFC funding content.
The new bank, according to Finance Ministry sources in Washington, will address the funding lapses in the economy, where many long-term projects have been dormant with their implementation costs escalating every year.
It is believed that the Sovereign wealth Fund (SWF) managed by NSIA will develop the road-map for the bank which will focus strategic partners across the globe.
Vanguard-
Nigerisa’s Vice President Kashim Shettima
By Modupe Asudo
The 2026 edition of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Summit got underway in Lagos on Monday with regulatory agencies, project promoters, and financial institutions focused on deepening intra-Africa trade, a unified code of standards for professional qualifications and manufactured goods, and expansion of the frontiers of technological development and innovation.
Critical questions addressed include how AfCFTA’s 1.4 billion population and $3.4 trillion economy could achieve “a strategic shift from fragmented economies towards a globally competitive supply chain system”; how Africa could leverage its vast mineral resources, including copper, iron ore, petrochemical, for domestic production of hardware such as Christmas tree (an assembly of valves, fittings on top of a wellhead to control oil production), and how, hypothetically, Tema Shipyard in Ghana could be designated the vessel construction, assembly and repairs hub for Africa.
Related questions were how cables manufactured in Nigeria, hypothetically, could benefit from favourable trade terms in Angola; what compliance requirements a sacrificial anode producer in Nigeria would have to meet in regard to the rule of origin requirement to export anodes to Algeria for protection and longevity of pipelines, storage tanks, offshore platforms, etc., and what other support levers would be required to achieve energy security for Africa besides expanded refining capabilities in Dangote Refinery, laying of continental gas transmission pipelines, and establishment of industrial parks and other support infrastructure.
In a keynote address at the event, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, represented by the Director, Corporate Services, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, disclosed that Nigeria’s oil and gas industry embraced AfCFTA and developed a framework for domesticating the policy in 2022.
According to him, implementing AfCFTA in the industry was anchored on three broad pillars, namely, Opportunities Identification, Capacity Development, and Capacity Exportation. In regard to opportunities, he said Nigeria’s strength lies in formidable supply chain in oil field services, refining capacity, oil field logistics base, gas supply pipelines, and a pool of qualified oil field technical workforce.
On capacity development, he pointed out that Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, through the local content law, has developed capabilities in the oil and gas value chain spanning marine vessel asset ownership, fabrication, assembly and installation of production systems, including Christmas trees, pressure vessels, and pumps.
What remains unresolved, described by the Executive Secretary as “the next frontier and the reason for convening the Summit,” is capacity exportation. He posited for consideration a unified work permit and visa that would enable, say, “a welder in Senegal to be engaged in Arlec Engineering Works, Johannesburg, South Africa, for fabrication of heat exchangers, storage tanks, pressure tanks, pressure vessels, etc.”
In examining the importance of achieving continental economic integration, Engr. Ogbe explained that strong regional supply chains would shift Africa from exporting raw materials to producing high-value goods. For pathways to integration, he listed regional value chains, infrastructure connectivity, regulatory harmonization, industrial clusters, and small and medium scale enterprises (SME) inclusion.
He assured industry stakeholders and participants maximum support by the NCDMB.
By Modupe Asudo
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has outlined a practical framework for positioning Nigeria’s energy sector to access the African Continental Free Trade Area, following a strategic webinar focused on meeting rules-of-origin requirements for continental trade.
The Board held a pre-conference webinar on Wednesday ahead of the Nigeria Local Content AfCFTA Energy Summit scheduled for Monday, February 9, 2026.
The engagement was attended by stakeholders from the oil and gas, power and renewable energy sectors, and they addressed how Nigerian products and services can qualify for preferential market access across 54 African countries with a combined gross domestic product of $3.4tn and a population of about 1.4 billion people.
Entitled ‘Meeting AfCFTA Origin Requirements in Energy Trade’, the webinar focussed on one of the major barriers facing Nigerian exporters under AfCFTA — structuring production and operations to meet origin requirements that determine eligibility for duty-free and preferential trade.
The initiative was supported by the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, and the Acting Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr. Ene Ette, as part of preparations for the forthcoming Nigeria Local Content AfCFTA Energy Summit, with the theme ‘Unlocking Africa’s Energy Future through AfCFTA: Trade, Innovation and Regional Integration’.
Speaking during the session, a communications analyst, Joseph Nwokedi, representing the Acting National Coordinator of Nigeria’s AfCFTA Coordination Office, Mrs Patience Okala, stressed the central role of energy in Africa’s economic integration under AfCFTA.
He urged Nigerian companies to shift their focus from Nigeria’s domestic market of about 200m people to the wider continental market of 1.4bn consumers.
“Without energy, there’s no industrialisation. Without energy, regional value chains remain aspirational,” Nwokedi said. “With AfCFTA, energy transforms from a domestic infrastructure issue into a tradable, investable and exportable sector within an integrated African market.”
He noted that even one per cent penetration of the African market translates to about 14m consumers, underscoring the scale of opportunity available to Nigerian energy firms.
The webinar identified four key pathways through which Nigeria’s energy sector can participate in AfCFTA-enabled trade. First, Nigeria’s Electricity Act of 2023 allows independent power producers to supply electricity directly to industrial clusters and export processing zones, positioning power generation as a foundation for trade-ready manufacturing.
Second, the country has submitted commitments under AfCFTA that enable professionals such as engineers, electricians, geophysicists and energy auditors to export services across Africa, subject to mutual recognition of qualifications.
Third, refined petroleum products, gas derivatives, electricity and renewable energy components can be traded across borders under preferential tariffs, provided they meet AfCFTA rules of origin.
Fourth, AfCFTA’s investment protocol, combined with recent domestic reforms, including the Presidential Directives on Investment Incentives for 2024–2025, strengthens Nigeria’s credibility for attracting cross-border investments in power generation, transmission, renewable energy and storage infrastructure.
Delivering a technical presentation, Assistant Comptroller of Customs, Burhan Sulaiman, explained that AfCFTA would eliminate tariffs on 90 per cent of goods traded within the bloc over five to 10 years, with an additional seven per cent liberalised over 13 years. However, he stressed that these benefits were conditional on meeting origin requirements.
“Companies lose benefits because origin was treated as an afterthought,” Sulaiman said. “You must build in origin compliance from the beginning, not while already running your project. Origin determines whether you export duty-free or pay full tariffs.”
He clarified that origin is determined by where economic production takes place, not by company ownership or registration. Foreign-owned companies producing in Nigeria can export as Nigerian origin, while Nigerian companies importing finished goods cannot claim AfCFTA preferences.
Sulaiman explained that products qualify for preferential access through two routes. “Wholly obtained” goods are entirely produced within AfCFTA member states, such as crude oil and natural gas extracted in Nigeria, as well as locally generated electricity regardless of fuel source.
The second route, “substantial transformation”, applies where foreign inputs are used and requires compliance with one of three tests: a change in tariff classification; a value-addition threshold limiting foreign content to between 30 and 60 per cent of ex-works price; or completion of specific prescribed processes such as distillation, cracking or reforming for petroleum products.
He provided sector-specific guidance, noting that in oil and gas, locally extracted crude and gas qualify, just as refined petroleum products that meet processing requirements. However, simple blending, basic distillation operations and modular refineries using imported crude without substantial transformation do not qualify.
In the power sector, he explained, locally generated electricity and regionally manufactured equipment with deep component transformation qualify, while installation-only activities, imported turbines, transformers and switchgear mounting do not.
“For renewables, regional solar cell and battery cell manufacturing with deep component processing qualify,” he said, adding that panel installation alone, simple module assembly and packaging imported batteries do not meet the thresholds.
Sulaiman warned that without regional manufacturing accumulation, power equipment exports fail origin tests.
According to him, the Nigeria Customs Service applies a five-step verification process for origin claims, including confirming accurate HS codes, reviewing production records, testing for minimal operations, verifying African input origins and ensuring consistency across certificates, production records and cost documentation.
“Weak documentation kills origin claims. Even genuinely originating products can be denied if documentation is incomplete or inaccurate,” he noted.
Both speakers emphasised that origin compliance should be treated as a core business strategy rather than a regulatory formality.
“Origin is not paperwork; it is strategy,” Sulaiman said. “It shapes where you locate facilities, how you source inputs, and where you sign regional contracts. Treat it as strategic from day one.”
Nwokedi urged Nigerian firms to act early. “AfCFTA is happening now. Early movers will shape supply chains, standards and partnerships. Are you going to lead, or simply follow?”
Officials also provided updates on AfCFTA implementation, noting that 92 per cent of rules of origin had been agreed, with negotiations ongoing in the textiles and automotive sectors.
An online dispute resolution mechanism has been established to coordinate Customs authorities, standards bodies and complainants.
Nigeria has deployed a fully operational electronic certification system for paperless trade, while Nigerian Customs is introducing risk-management frameworks that could allow exporter self-certification on commercial invoices.
Following a five-year implementation review led by the Minister of Industry and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, government sensitisation efforts have intensified through partnerships with the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture; Women’s Chambers of Commerce; zonal outreach programmes and ‘P3 engagements’ involving the press, private sector and public institutions.
“The government will not trade under AfCFTA — our exporters will,” officials said. “If they win, we win.”
Nigerian Customs also reiterated its open-door policy for pre-export origin verification to help businesses avoid delays and additional costs at the border.
The webinar highlighted Nigeria’s potential as a regional energy and transition-fuel hub, building on frameworks such as the West African Power Pool to support cross-border electricity trade.
Key recommendations included structuring projects for origin compliance from inception, forming regional joint ventures, aligning with continental standards and leveraging AfCFTA service commitments to export Nigerian energy expertise.
The session ended with confirmation that the webinar was a technical precursor to the Nigeria Local Content AfCFTA Energy Summit, which will convene policymakers, industry leaders and trade experts to develop strategies for maximising Africa’s energy potential under the AfCFTA framework.
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