The government has added another US$550 million to the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) as part of efforts improve power sector financing and overcome the current challenges in the sector, the local media reported Tuesday.
The private owned BusinessDay newspaper reported that the latest addition brings the total funds available to the NSWF to US$1.55 billion.
The fresh allocation comes from the proceeds of the successful US$1 billion Eurobond offer last year, set aside to fund gas-to-power infrastructure.
Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said US$200 million of the fresh allocation had been transferred to the infrastructure component of the NSWF to help it leverage gas-to-power investments with the private sector.
The remaining US$350 million is a liquidity facility that the government had allocated to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company (NBET), now transferred to the NSWF to manage on behalf of the bulk trader.
In addition, out of the initial US$1 billion seed capital for NSWF, 20% is now allocated to the Stabilisation Fund, 40% to infrastructure and 40% to the future generations fund.
