The management of United Capital (UC) Plc has launched a N150 billion infrastructure fund to provide long-term financing for the development of critical infrastructure in Nigeria, and across Nigeria.
The United Capital Infrastructure Fund (UCIF), the company said in a statement released through the Nigerian Exchange Limited that the idea of the Naira-denominated fund was mooted two years ago in recognition of the pivotal role of infrastructure in economic development. On its part, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) estimates that Nigeria would need to spend about US$100 billion annually to bridge its infrastructure gap.
The infrastructure deficit has been identified as a major constraint to the economic development of Nigeria and the United Capital fund is set to address this by financing infrastructure assets that cut across sectors such as power and renewable energy, transportation, agribusiness and industrial infrastructure, healthcare, technology, mass housing, urban and social infrastructure.
United Capital, said the Infrastructure Fund would be managed by United Capital Asset Management Limited (“UCAML”), its only sponsor. The Fund has retained Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as the independent Financial Advisor, to provide additional layers of best practice of corporate governance which enhances the project appraisal and due diligence activities of the Fund Management team.
Speaking at the launching, Mr. Peter Ashade, the Group Chief Executive Officer of United Capital Plc stated that “the journey to launch the Fund has taken almost two years, during which period extensive preparatory studies and appraisals were carried out to establish the business case for the Fund, as well as to define a model and governance framework that would provide investors that have an appetite for long-term financing products (such as pension funds and insurance companies), with sufficient confidence of the attractiveness of UCIF, as an investment opportunity.”
United Capital Plc is a financial services group with activities that include Investment Banking, Asset Management, Trustees, Securities Trading, Wealth Management and Consumer Finance. The Group is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with operations and presence in West Africa. The fund it said has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, as a close-ended fund.
Earlier, the Stanbic IBTC had launched a N100 billion infrastructure fund earlier in the year to support government’s effort in that regard.
