Africa Business News of Tuesday, 16 March 2021

Source: reuters.com

Nigeria hires KPMG for multibillion dollar infrastructure fund

Nigeria's central Bank Headquarters Nigeria's central Bank Headquarters

Nigeria’s central bank hired KPMG LLP as transaction adviser for its newly created infrastructure fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The bank appointed KPMG after considering bids by firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Co., said the person, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public yet. KPMG didn’t answer two calls seeking comment on Tuesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari last month approved 1 trillion naira ($2.5 billion) of seed capital for the Infrastructure Corp. of Nigeria Ltd., which the central bank initiated last year. The fund has been established to raise as much as 15 trillion naira for power, road and railway projects in Africa’s largest economy.

Africa’s most populous country is boosting infrastructure investment to stimulate economic growth after exiting its second recession in four years in the fourth quarter.

The nation needs at least $3 trillion over 30 years to close its infrastructure gap, Moody’s Investors Service said in November.

A process to select a fund manager for the InfraCorp was also extended by two weeks to March 30, according to a notice published on the central bank’s website on Monday