President Buhari has finally and officially reconstituted board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), almost two years after he dissolved governing boards of agencies.
A statement from the NSIA say members include; Olajide Zeitlin from South West who is also the Chairman. Other members are Bello Maccido (North West); and Lois Laraba Machunga-Disu (North Central).
Others include; Urum Kalu (UK) Eke, (South East); Halima Buba (North-East) and Asue Ighodalo (South-South).
The Board reconstitution restores the number of Board members to 9 Directors, 3 of whom are Executive Directors (EDs).
Olajide Zeitlin, the new Chairman, is a private investor with interests in Africa and the United States. He formerly served as a Partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he held a number of senior management positions, including that of Global Chief Operating Officer of their investment bank. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Coach, Inc. and Founder of the Keffi Group. He serves on the Boards of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc, Vascular Biogenics Ltd and also on the Boards of a number of charity and commercial interests.
Zeitlin holds an A.B. in Economics and English magna cum laude from Amherst College and a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University.
The list of nominees was adopted by the
National Economic Council (NEC) members after the proposed Board was tabled before them by the Honourable Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun during their Meeting in February 2017.
National Economic Council (NEC) members after the proposed Board was tabled before them by the Honourable Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun during their Meeting in February 2017.
Subsequently, the list of nominees, which covers all six geo-political zones in the country was forwarded to and approved by the President
Speaking on the nominations, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said “All six of the newly appointed Board members embody the spirit of the NSIA’s establishment Act and bring talent, expertise and professionalism to the table. The country is fortunate to have them serve in various capacities on the Board of the NSIA.”
The NSIA, has earned well over N180bn from investments of the country’s $1.25 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).
Uche Orji, Managing Director, NSIA said recently that he was confident that a new board would help further investment decisions and earnings of the Authority.
“A board is critical to what we do at NSIA because the board is involved in three out of every four investment decisions we make,” he said at a recent press meeting.
Nigeria’s $1.25bn SWF has three Separate and Ring-fenced Investment Funds which the NSIA allocates in the ratio of 20 percent for stabilisation fund; 40 percent for future generation fund and 40 percent for Infrastructure fund.
According to Orji, all the funds have been allocated.
But the NEC last month okayed an additional $250 million to the fund which is yet be released for allocation, it was gathered.