Pension Fund Operators Association partners African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association to empower local investors

The Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) has partnered with the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) to empower local investors and develop private equity (PE) as an asset class in Nigeria.

Domestic capital plays a vital role in accelerating economic growth in Nigeria and across the continent in general. Over the past 5-10 years, the value of Nigerian pension funds has grown markedly to peak at over $25 billion in December 2020, of which 0.03% has been allocated to private equity.

The partnership between PenOp and AVCA will focus on training and networking, including an introduction to Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), fund managers and other stakeholders within the global private equity ecosystem, to ensure the growth of private equity in Nigeria, especially for pension operators. As part of this collaboration, PenOp will also support AVCA’s research and advocacy by providing insight into pension fund investments in PE and their impact.

Oguche Agudah, the CEO of PenOp  said, “Pension funds realise that they need to diversify into alternative investments and private equity presents one of such opportunities. However, we haven’t seen that much uptake of this locally. In addition to other initiatives we are pursuing, we are hoping that this partnership with AVCA will help to further open up this space.”

Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, the CEO of AVCA  said, “Our mission at AVCA is to facilitate more private investment into Africa, and part of this work involves unlocking domestic capital by demystifying the asset class. We know that African institutional investors are increasingly looking at PE to diversify their portfolios, so this collaboration with PenOp will enable us to equip Nigerian pension funds with the tools and resources they need to achieve superior returns by investing in the continent’s growing businesses.”