Nigeria seeks managers for planned $10 billion diaspora fund

FILE PHOTO: A view of the central business district is seen from a roof-top in Lagos, Nigeria February 10, 2016. Picture taken February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye/File Photo

By Isaac Anyaogu

LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria is seeking fund managers for a planned $10 billion diaspora fund that is aimed at attracting dollar inflows and foreign investment into the economy, a tender document showed.

The fund seeks to pool together billions of dollars remitted monthly by its citizens oversees for local investments, including infrastructure, healthcare and education.

Last year, Nigeria is estimated to have received in excess of $20 billion in diaspora remittances, according to the World Bank.

Nigeria’s industry and trade ministry said in a public notice that it was seeking “fund managers for the development and establishment of a multisectoral, multiateral private sector-led investment fund to form the $10 billion Nigeria Diaspora Fund.”

The fund manager’s role includes designing and setting up the fund, including legal, operational, financial and administrative structures, the tender document said.

The expected investment period is for three to five years with follow on investment thereafter. The life of the fund will be 10 years and could be extended for a further two years, the government said.

The trade ministry tender said prospective fund managers must have had verifiable business in Nigeria in the past five years, have a record of raising capital and managing large and profitable venture capital funds.

Doris Anite, minister of industry and trade, in a statement said it is an “unprecedented opportunity for our citizens in disapora to drive Nigeria’s economic growth.”

Foreign currency shortages due to lower crude oil exports have put the naira currency under pressure, forcing businesses and individuals to buy dollars on the black market.

Nigeria plans to issue diaspora bonds later this year to further raise foreign exchange inflows into the country. (This story has been refiled to remove an extraneous word in paragraph 4)

(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu, Editing by William Maclean)