FG Pumps $500m Into NSIA As Osinbajo Inaugurates New Board

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday in the Presidential Villa, Abuja inaugurated the new board of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) with the disclosure of fresh injection of $500 million into the scheme. Osinbajo said the fund was part of the federal government’s drive for economic growth and infrastructure development.

Yesterday’s inauguration of the board was sequel to the earlier approval by the National Economic Council (NEC) in February, this year, of the nominees into the board from the six geo-political zones of the country. Members of the board chaired by Mr. Babajide Zeitlin will serve for a term of four years. While inaugurating the board, Osinbajo charged it to improve on the performance of NSIA by investing in key priority areas of the government such as agriculture and infrastructure.

He also said the board would be held accountable by both NEC and the generality of Nigerians which he said would require them to provide accounts of their stewardship. “As we navigate the pathway out of recession and into a self-sufficient and diversified economy, it is our expectation that the NSIA will remain increasingly strategic to our na- tion’s growth and development.

“As representatives of the people, our charge is simple: we require you to fundamentally improve the performance of the Authority and strengthen its operations. “Indeed, despite the fiscally constrained environment, this administration has been able to increase the federal government’s commitment to the NSIA by 50 per cent, committing an ad- ditional $500 million though the federal government is committed to saving. “The actual charge with this additional capital is investment.

Thus, as the NSIA moves to the second phase of its existence, the expectation is that the committed capital will be deployed into projects that are in line with the administration’s key priority areas, namely: infrastructure, agriculture, in order to improve our economy.

Source: This Day