Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF), yesterday, listed the first local currency-denominated infrastructure investment trust fund in the country and Sub-Saharan Africa, on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
The NIDF is a N200 billion public infrastructure investment fund managed by Chapel Hill Denham.
The listing was commemorated with a Closing Gong Ceremony where the management of the Fund engaged market stakeholders with a Facts Behind the Listing presentation.
The Fund, backed by major institutional investors including the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), will provide long-term financing in naira for private infrastructure projects.
Since inception, it has returned 155%, according to a statement from the NGX.
NIDF’s 853,817,692 units were listed on the Main Board of NGX at N8.39 per share and will remit quarterly dividends to investors by paying out profits from investing in industries like power, transportation, healthcare and education.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NGX, Temi Popoola, said Chapel Hill Denham has been consistent with immense value addition to the Exchange and a key contributor to capital market growth in the last five years.
“One big innovation in the last three years was the MTN public offer. It included a complete end-to-end digital application process, which could not have been possible without Chapel Hill. We have been trying to showcase Nigeria as an investment destination, and Chapel Hill has been a strong supporter of that system,” Popoola said.
The CEO added that the capital market is increasingly becoming a vehicle for solving key governance problems, especially in the aspect of raising debt funding.
He noted that the NIDF is an elegant solution that exists not only in Nigeria, but in foreign markets.
“The retail investor landscape will find this very attractive. It sells itself,” he added.
NIDF’s 853,817,692 units were listed on the Main Board of NGX at N8.39 per share and will remit quarterly dividends to investors by paying out profits from investing in industries like power, transportation, healthcare and education.
Similarly, Chapel Hill Denham’s CEO, Bolaji Balogun, said the listing of the fund is a great move for Nigeria’s economy.
“This is the first time an infrastructure debt fund is listed on the Exchange. NIDF has been existing since 2017, and it has distributed successively for 24 quarters. We have increased the diversity of the areas we invest into – transportation, power, education, telecoms, social infrastructure.”
Balogun also noted that Nigeria needs to invest consistently to grow in the area of infrastructure, given its importance as an asset class.
On his part, the CEO of NIDF, Anshul Rai, gave credit to the fund’s work since its inception in 2017.
“Through the good work of the team, we have been fortunate not to have non-performing loans. We have had situations where the price of the funds has been very strong with very significant returns,” he added.
Echoing this sentiment, Phill Southwell, the Fund Chairman, lauded the listing, adding that by listing on the Exchange, NIDF hopes to crowd in retail investors.
He also noted that the fund’s investment strategy integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles used to screen investments based on corporate policies and to encourage companies to act responsibly.
