Nigeria to host African pension and sovereign wealth funds at the Africa investor CEO Infrastructure Investment Summit

Johannesburg, South Africa; Abuja, Nigeria; 31 January 2014: Africa investor (Ai), a leading international investment and communications group, today announced that Nigeria will host African pension and sovereign wealth funds at the Africa investor CEO Infrastructure Investment Summit, taking place in Abuja, Nigeria, on the 6th-7th May 2014.

The Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders Dialogue on Investing in Africa’s Infrastructure will be the first of its kind to engage Africa’s pension and sovereign wealth funds on investing in the continent’s wealth of bankable infrastructure investment opportunities.

Africa’s infrastructure backlog requires over US $90 billion of investment each year. Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi estimates that Nigeria’s infrastructure backlog alone is approximately $8-10bn per annum. According to Sanusi, part of the financing problem remains with the fact that, of Nigeria’s $25bn pension assets, not even $1 million can be invested in Nigerian infrastructure investment projects due to old regulatory prohibitions on pension funds investing in infrastructure.

With Basel 3 restricting banks’ capacity to invest in infrastructure, the Summit will focus on regulations that can protect retirees and sovereign investors, whilst providing catalytic capital for attractive African infrastructure investments in the energy, transport and social infrastructure sectors.
The Summit also marks the first gathering following the launch Ai Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds Investment Platform at the World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington in October 2013. The Ai Platform exists to improve the regulatory and commercial risk environment for pension and sovereign wealth funds to invest in African infrastructure and, facilitate through Ai Capital, co-investment partnerships between African pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, infrastructure project developers and infrastructure fund managers working in Africa.

Commenting on the Dialogue, Hubert Danso, CEO and Vice Chairman of Africa investor, said, “This is a crucial time for African economic integration and infrastructure investment and we are therefore delighted to host this first-of-its-kind platform for pension and sovereign wealth funds in Africa on infrastructure investment. This is the next important step in mobilising African capital for projects across the continent; as a pre-cursor and vote of confidence to catalyse global pension and sovereign wealth funds to invest in Africa’s burgeoning infrastructure investment opportunities.”

Taking place between the 6th-7th May in Abuja, Nigeria, the day before the country hosts the World Economic Forum on Africa, also in Abuja, the invitation-only African Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds gathering will advance a critical agenda, set by African Union Heads of State, to mobilise African capital and the private sector to fast track the continent’s infrastructure investment and economic integration.

Africa investor’s Summit partners and sponsors include: African Business Roundtable, Africa investor Capital, the European Union, the World Bank Group, the African Union, NEPAD, Rand Merchant Bank, Bunengi Group and Quadrant.

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Note to Editors
For more information on the Africa investor (Ai) CEO Infrastructure Investment Summit and Awards, contact Catherine Wright on +27 11 783 4043 or cwright@africainvestor.com.
About Africa investor – www.africainvestor.com

Africa investor is a specialist investment and communications firm advising governments, international organisations and businesses on communication strategies for capital market and foreign direct investments in Africa. Africa investor publishes Africa investor, the leading international newsstand magazine for Africa’s investment decision makers; maintains the Africa investor 40 Investors’ Index, hosts the Ai Index Series Summit & Awards and the Africa investor Infrastructure Projects Summit & Awards, among other events