The Federal Government on Thursday said it would from March 2013 begin the investment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund as mandated by the Act setting it up.
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said this in a statement issued by her Senior Special Assistant on Communications, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu.
The statement also said the fund was making progress two months after the inauguration of the board, as the strategy document, which would guide its operations had been concluded.
Similarly, the investment policy guidelines and the processes for the three fund pots upon which the fund is anchored are almost finalised, according to the minister.
They are the future generation fund, infrastructure fund and fiscal stabilisation fund, with each holding at least 20 per cent of the assets under management.
The statement read in part, "The strategy document was ratified by the Board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority led by Alhaji Mahey Rasheed.
"To ensure that the blueprint is ready on time, the board has met twice since its inauguration on October 9 to review and reshape the draft submitted by the management team."
The statement also quoted the minister as stating that the country was poised to benefit significantly if the current momentum was maintained.
She said, "There is still a lot of hard work ahead, we need to remain focused and disciplined so that we can reap the rewards. We are not yet there, but we are on the right track.
"The question we must keep asking ourselves is: Other countries have benefited from SWF; why not Nigeria?"
In seeking the best investments for Nigeria, the statement said the NSIA would not limit itself but would search for the best deals wherever they could be found in the world.
Okonjo-Iweala said, "There are no geographical restrictions or product restrictions for the Future Generation and Fiscal Stabilisation Fund, and we expect to invest across the full spectrum of products (equities, fixed income, alternative assets, etc.), in accordance with our five-year rolling plan that will provide superior risk adjusted returns for the future generations of Nigerians.
"The Future Generations Fund will start off fully outsourced and in the future, in-house managers will be added to foster skills in asset management and investments. In addition to developing investment policies and guidelines, the process of appointing custodians and investment consultants for determining our asset allocation models is almost concluded."
The minister said the Fiscal Stabilisation Fund would be mainly managed in-house and would ensure liquidity was available to the government in times of economic stress.
