NSIA, GuarantCo establish credit guarantee company in Nigeria

18 Jan 2017
Financial Nigeria

Summary

InfraCredit will provide credit guarantees to enhance the quality of local currency debt instruments issued by eligible entities to finance infrastructure projects in Nigeria. 

Uche Orji, Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has partnered with GuarantCo, a leading credit guarantee company, to establish InfraCredit – an infrastructure credit enhancement facility in Nigeria. According to a statement released on Tuesday, NSIA said InfraCredit will provide credit guarantees to enhance the quality of local currency debt instruments issued by eligible entities to finance infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

Conceived in 2014, InfraCredit will be fully operational in the second quarter of this year.

“The establishment of InfraCredit brings to fruition, one of the key pillars of NSIA’s infrastructure investment strategy which seeks to facilitate the creation of and investments in institutions that contribute to infrastructure development in Nigeria,” said Uche Orji, NSIA’s CEO. “It is expected that InfraCredit will enhance Nigeria’s capacity to attract and unlock latent pools of capital from pensions and insurance for infrastructure investment into key sectors of the Nigerian economy.”

InfraCredit will be capitalized with up to $200 million, comprising paid-in equity and “second loss” contingent capital. NSIA said it will invest the naira equivalent of $25 million as paid-in equity, with the remaining equity to be sourced mainly from institutional investors and international development finance institutions (DFIs). On the other hand, GuarantCo has executed a “callable capital funding facility agreement,” providing $50 million of the contingent capital. GuarantCo will also act as lead arranger for a further $50 million to be sourced from international DFIs.

The NSIA said InfraCredit was conceived as a sustainable framework for stimulating infrastructure investments in key sectors of the Nigerian economy. The company will be based in Lagos and its Board of Directors will be comprised of representatives of NSIA, GuarantCo, institutional investors and investors.

At its inaugural board meeting, InfraCredit appointed Chinua Azubike as the company’s Chief Executive Officer effective January 11, 2017. Azubike has over 14 years’ experience in corporate finance and debt capital markets roles, previously working as the Managing Director of Dunn Loren Merrifield Advisory Partners, an investment banking firm based in Lagos. He studied law at the University of Lagos and holds an M.Sc. in Finance & Financial Law from University of London. Chinua is the chairperson of the Regulation Consolidation Sub-Committee of FMDQ Debt Capital Market Development Project.

“InfraCredit is a ground-breaking initiative that will unlock domestic investment in Nigeria’s infrastructure on a scale not previously seen,” said Chris Vermont, Non-Executive Director and former CEO. “The local pension fund market is expanding by $5 billion equivalent each year and there is significant demand for low risk alternatives to government securities. InfraCredit is a step change in the balanced development of Nigeria’s capital markets and the wider economy.”


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