Nigeria tops Africa Sovereign Wealth Fund Index
Nigeria has been ranked number one in the first edition of the African Sover-
Nigeria has been ranked number one in the first edition of the African Sovereign Wealth Fund Index, polling 62.49% to beat Rwanda (62.24 %) and Ghana (62 %) into the second and third positions respectively, according to the African Sovereign Wealth Fund Index report released over the weekend.
In fourth place was Angola (56.57%), fifth place Gabon (47.17%.) and Morocco (38.92%) in sixth place.
The index, which measures the size and other variables of the existing (12) Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF’s) on the African continent, put the total assets of these SWFs at about USD$89billion.
Launched by the Konfidants Advisory Group during the Africa Sovereign Wealth Fund Summit in Accra, the index’s indicators are governance and disclosure, size, domestic investment mandate and source of funding.
The index seeks to establish how transparent and accountable African sovereign wealth funds are by assessing the soundness of their governance structure as well as the level of the public financial disclosure on them.
Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund is managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) which was set up in 2011 to manage funds in excess of budgeted oil and gas revenues. The Authority is empowered to receive, manage and invest funds in a diversified portfolio of medium and long term assets on behalf of the Federal Government, State Governments, Federal Capital Territory, and Local Governments Area Councils in preparation for the eventual depletion of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources.
It will be recalled that Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund has also been highly ranked by the Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index.
The Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index, the internationally-renowned analyst of sovereign wealth funds, was developed at the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute in 2008 by Carl Linaburg and Michael Maduell.
In its 2015 and 2016 reports, the institute declared that Nigeria’s SWF scored nine out of 10 points, earning its rank in the league of the top rated global sovereign wealth funds in terms of compliance with international best practices.