•Minister hails NSIA over achievements THE 36 states will start to receive dividend from the Nigeria Sovereign and Investment Authority (NSIA) from next year, it was learnt yesterday. NSIA is entrusted with the management of the country’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. It was set up in 2014 with a take-off seed of $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account. The idea of the agency, which is rated 56th in the world, is to provide the country with a stabilisation fund during economic distress. NSIA Managing Director/Chief Executive Director Uche Orji, who spoke yesterday when he received the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the agency has been able to make some gains in the last few years and also contributed significantly to the economy. Orji posited that though NSIA was not able to give dividends in the last two years, but with the income generated so far, it will be in position to begin to give states dividends as from next year. He noted that the agency in the last two years (2014-2016) earned N149.83 billion. “We are cautiously optimistic about market conditions as performance in 2017 may be significantly different from prior years. However, we shall undertake tactical rebalance in our assets allocation to achieve sustained profitability,” he added. He noted that the agency has made serious achievement in the area of infrastructure, agriculture and health. The agency, according to Orji, will partner in funding the $760 million second Niger Bridge project and the Lagos-Ibadan road among other social infrastructure projects. Besides, Orji added that the agency intervention in fertiliser has paid off as it has drastically brought down the price of fertiliser from N11,000 to N5,500. Overall, the NSIA boss said the agency produced and sold six million bags of fertiliser. This, he said, has contributed to the increase in the output of grains and cut in prices. He noted that NSIA has been able to revitalise 11 of the 28 fertiliser blending firms. The agency, according to Orji, was working on another six, which is expected to come up before the end of the year. He said: “An estimated $150 million has been saved in foreign exchange as a result of the local sourcing of two of the project’s raw materials. The minister hailed the agency for the great, “but unannounced work it has been doing”. Mohammed commended the agency for the adoption of the fertiliser whistleblower policy, with the aim of reducing the activities of fertiliser cabal.]]>

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