The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has explained that the delay in the completion of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway, one of the infrastructure projects it is financing was because of insecurity.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSIA, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, who disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a media presentation of the authority’s 2023 financial statement, noted that phase 2 and 3 of the project which are Kaduna-Zaria and Zaria-Kano respectively have been completed and commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The part that is left is the Abuja-Kaduna end which is delayed because of insecurity,” the NSIA boss said.
He however noted that the contractor has returned to site and hopes that the project will soon be completed.
Umar-Sadiq also informed that the Lagos-Ibadan expressway project is also nearing completion and promised that other projects it is funding are progressing.
He said NSIA through its operations and investments has generated positive social and economic nationwide impacts and contributes towards the attainment of key sustainable development goals (SDGs) for Nigeria.
According to him, in 2023 our activities generated more than 245,000 and 200,000 direct and indirect jobs respectively across different sectors. We also supported over 236,000 farmers through our agro projects.”
He said the 2023 impressive financial performance underscores the resilience of the NSIA’s investment strategy and the quality of its earnings, despite the challenging global macro-economic, and geo-political landscape.
The financial results showed that NSIA recorded a total comprehensive income of ₦1.18 trillion from its operations for 2023. Its Net Assets grew by 119 percent, from ₦1.02 trillion in December 2022, to ₦2.22 trillion in the corresponding period in 2023, with its Total Operating Income increasing from ₦101.1 billion in the previous year to ₦1.18 trillion.
“Our excellent results in 2023 and consistent positive performance over a decade offer further proof of our robust strategic asset allocation, proficient execution of our infrastructure initiatives as well as effective risk management processes,” Sadiq said.
Looking ahead, he said the NSIA would continue to focus on creating shared prosperity for current and future generations of Nigerians.
According to him, “In 2024, we want to ensure that all the platforms that we are creating are developed in a manner that they can attract foreign capital to March our capital to ensure we have scalable impacts on our people. We have already started to see some of that in our medserve, our medical services platform, in carbon vista and in Renewable investment Platform for Limitless Energy (RIPLE) as well.
“We also want to make sure that these are developed in a well organized, well managed, well governed and well capitalised manner to ensure they can be that partner of choice for external capital seeking Nigerian funds.
“We also want to go beyond business as usual in terms of how we establish these companies that we are able to differentiate ourselves in terms of operationalising them. We are also going to focus on financial performance, to be that trusted custodian of assets on behalf of future generations of Nigerians, and finally to ensure that we can be that bridge between announcement of initiatives as well as operationalisation of those initiatives which is to bring the best in class ability to effectively execute infrastructure projects as required.”