The rapidly expanding asset management company AVA Global Assets Managers Limited announced today that the Security and Exchange Commission has given its clearance for the launch of the N200 billion AVA infrastructure Fund Programme.
The Series 1 fund is intended to support innovative businesses in industries like power, telecommunications, agribusiness, and supporting infrastructure, as well as gas distribution, processing, and storage. Its goal is to close Nigeria’s infrastructure gaps by strategically challenging institutional capital into infrastructure projects.
The principal aim of the fund is to provide unit holders with a steady and dependable income stream by means of debt financing for infrastructure projects in Nigeria. It also aims to concentrate on initiatives or companies that use durable assets, provide consistent cash flows, and provide essential social and economic services.
AVA Global Asset Managers Limited’s managing director, Efe Shaire, said in a statement that the Fund’s objective is to strategically distribute private capital credit, with an emphasis on significant projects that have steady and predictable future cash flows.
According to Shaire, “the fund aims to achieve a gross return on its portfolio that is 3–5% higher than the yield of the FGN bond with a comparable tenor.”
According to him, the program will be made available to investors on a periodic basis in series or tranches that are in line with the pipeline of opportunities and the required investment size or ticket. The Fund manager will decide on the details of each series or tranche, including its duration, which will not exceed the program’s overall duration.
According to the release, the fund is a closed-end unit trust plan denominated in naira that has been established and approved by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The fund’s transaction parties are as follows: United Bank for Africa serves as the custodian, AVA Global Asset Managers is the fund manager, STL Trustees is the trustee, Olaniwun Ajayi LP is the solicitor, Ernst & Young is the independent infrastructure advisor, and AVA Capital Partners is the issuing house.
The National Infrastructure Master Plan states that Nigeria must invest $3 trillion, or 5% of its GDP, yearly to close the infrastructure gap.