Key Finance Updates
Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund to receive additional $250 million
The National Economic Council (NEC), last month, approved an additional $250 million capital contribution into the country's sovereign wealth fund, managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). The decision was taken following the presentation of NSIA's 2018 Annual Report and Accounts as well as its 2019 finance update to NEC by Uche Orji, Managing Director/CEO of NSIA. According to a statement sent to Financial Nigeria from the Office of the Vice President, NSIA declared a profit of N44.3 billion in 2018, and N24 billion in the first six months of 2019.
The NSIA's CEO said that the Authority focused its infrastructure fund on agriculture, road, power, healthcare projects and gas industrialisation. He said NSIA as the manager of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) is deploying capital to ensure the completion of the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Highway and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Other projects under the PIDF include the Mambila Hydro Power project and the East-West Road.
NSIA was founded in 2011 and received $1 billion as seed capital with which it began its investment operations in 2013. Between 2016 and 2017, additional contributions of $500 million were made to the Authority by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
NSIA manages three ring-fenced funds – the Stabilisation Fund (SF), the Future Generations Fund (FGF), and the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund (NIF) – as required by the NSIA Act. The Authority allocates its core capital across these three funds. The PIDF is a non-core capital managed by the Authority.
Coca-Cola to scale up investments in Africa
The Coca-Cola Company has stated its commitment to leverage the vast opportunity in Africa to drive the beverage company's long-term growth strategy. James Quincey, Global CEO and Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, disclosed this during his tour of Africa last month.
Quincey visited Nigeria and South Africa where he met with business and political leaders. Among the notable personalities he met with was Aliko Dangote, President/CEO of Dangote Group and Africa’s richest man. Others were Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings; Doyin Salami, Chairman of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC); and Fred Swaniker, Co-Founder of Africa Leadership Academy. The Coca-Cola visiting team, also met with top executives from Discovery Group, MTN, Unilever and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
"Having operated in Africa for over 90 years as a local business in every country, we believe Africa is a region that will increasingly influence the growth trajectory of our global businesses in just a few years," Quincey said.
He reiterated the company’s commitment to increase investment in social and environmental sustainability on the continent, adding that The CocaCola Company is committed to building a talent engine in Africa, and will also continue to provide access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities through its Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN).
Nigeria records 2.28 per cent real GDP growth in Q3 2019
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s GDP growth, adjusted for inflation, was 2.28 per cent in the third quarter of 2019. The figure was 2.12 per cent in Q2 2019.
The oil sector accounted for 9.77 per cent of aggregate real GDP in Q3 2019, slightly higher than the 9.38 per cent the sector contributed in a corresponding quarter of 2018. Growth in the oil sector, which was 6.49 per cent, boosted the total output growth in Q3 2019.
Oil production in the period was 2.04 million barrels per day (mbpd). The NBS said this oil output figure is the highest recorded in more than three years.
NBS reported that the non-oil sector grew by 1.85 per cent, in real terms, in Q3 2019, compared to 2.32 recorded in Q3 2018. Meanwhile, the non-oil sector contributed 90.23 per cent of the total GDP in the third quarter.
Nigeria's GDP growth has continued to lag its population growth rate, which is estimated at 2.6 per cent. The growth rate in Q3 2019 represents the second highest quarterly rate recorded since 2016.
Clean energy investment in developing countries slumps
New investment in wind, solar, and other clean energy projects in developing nations dropped sharply in 2018, largely due to a slowdown in China, according to a new survey report by BloombergNEF.
The number of new clean powergenerating plants completed stayed flat year-to-year, the volume of power derived from coal surged to a new high.
The findings suggest that developing nations are moving toward cleaner power but not nearly fast enough to limit global CO2 emissions or the consequences of climate change. The majority of new power-generating capacity added in developing nations in 2018 came from wind and solar, for instance.
China, both the world’s largest CO2 emitter and largest market for clean energy production and consumption, played a crucial role in the investment pattern. Investment in new wind, solar, and other non-large hydro renewables projects in the country fell to $86 billion in 2018 from $122 billion in 2017.
Inflows to clean energy projects in India and Brazil slipped $2.4 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, from the year prior. Across all emerging markets surveyed, 2018 investment fell to $133 billion, lower than not just the 2017 total but the 2015 figure as well.