The UK’s MOBILIST has sold off its stake in the Nigerian credit guarantee company to five Nigerian pension funds.
In a statement from the British High Commission on Monday, MOBILIST, which is the flagship United Kingdom programme managed by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said the move would help mobilise more local institutional investment towards infrastructure development critical to the country’s growth.
MOBILIST’s exit represents the biggest trade in InfraCredit’s shares since its listing by introduction on Nigeria’s NASD OTC Exchange Plc in April this year. The transaction enabled five domestic institutional investors: SEC: $500m. Sukuk signals a new era for ethical financing for pension funds and insurers to take up shareholding in InfraCredit. Four of these funds did not participate in the initial listing.
Following the secondary sale, Nigerian pension funds will collectively own more than 27 per cent of InfraCredit’s ordinary equity, reinforcing domestic institutional ownership and governance of a strategically important financial institution, alongside public sector capital (including the UK), which remains invested in the company.
British Deputy High Commissioner (Lagos), Mr Jonny Baxter, said, “The UK consistently prioritises transformational investments that unlock commercial markets. InfraCredit is one such example, an indigenous guarantee platform which is now attracting Nigerian institutional investors. To date, InfraCredit has facilitated over N300bn in financing, valued at more than $500m equivalent, indexed at issuance, in support of infrastructure development across Nigeria. We’re excited to see this momentum continue to grow, driven increasingly by domestic capital and delivering strong returns to Nigerian investors, a win-win where more infrastructure is built to support Nigerian businesses and more value is returned to Nigerian stakeholders.”
Chief Executive Officer of InfraCredit, Mr Chinua Azubike, said, “This secondary transaction is a proud milestone for InfraCredit and for Nigeria’s financial markets. It reinforces our long-term ownership vision that catalytic foreign investment can pave the way for sustained domestic institutional participation at scale. We are delighted to welcome four new Nigerian pension funds to our ownership base, a reflection of deepened market confidence and the growing role of local investors in financing Nigeria’s sustainable future.”
MOBILIST Programme Lead within FCDO, Mr Ross Ferguson, said, “MOBILIST’s investment in InfraCredit proved the potential of using public markets to mobilise private, and importantly, local, investment in sectors driving sustainable development and growth. The programme’s exit only reinforces this potential and highlights how innovative development finance can generate impact beyond an initial investment by contributing to the creation of deeper, more liquid capital markets while recycling capital for future investments.”
InfraCredit is Nigeria’s first and only domestic credit guarantor, issuing naira-denominated guarantees that help to mitigate risk for investors and improve the creditworthiness of Nigerian infrastructure debt instruments, thus enabling Nigerian institutional investors to invest in instruments used to finance infrastructure projects.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, through MOBILIST, invested N9.5bn ($6m) in InfraCredit’s listing, which saw the company raise a total of N27bn ($17.7m) after attracting investment from two local pension funds.
The listing broadened InfraCredit’s domestic institutional shareholder base and gave the company access to new sources of capital, expanding its capacity to provide guarantees for new infrastructure projects. The secondary sale of MOBILIST’s shares extends this impact, offering liquidity to untapped buyers who are natural long-term private sector equity holders but who did not participate at the initial point of listing.
InfraCredit has also benefited from technical assistance and catalytic investments facilitated by MOBILIST, Financial Sector Deepening Africa, British International Investments, the Private Infrastructure Development Group, and FCDO-Nigeria. These contributions have played a critical role in de-risking local investments and mobilising domestic institutional capital towards green infrastructure projects. The British High Commission affirmed that the UK remains committed to partnering with Nigeria to develop its local capital markets, including through MOBILIST’s continued partnership with the Nigerian Exchange, enabling greater investment towards sustainable development through listed products
