Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sigma Pensions, Mr Dave Uduanu, says Nigeria remains a viable investment haven despite negative macroeconomic indicators.
A statement from the pension body said Uduanu and some corporate executives spoke during a pension business roundtable organised by Sigma with the topic ‘Preserving Value in Turbulent times’.
Panelists at the roundtable were the Chief Marketing Officer, Ikeja Electric, Mr Ugo Obi-Chukwu; Co-Founder and Managing Director, CardinalStone Capital Advisers, Mr Femi Ogunjimi; Vice President, Sahel Group, Ms Tosin Ojo; Principal at Actis, Ms Folaseto Akin-Olugbade; and the Director, Real Estate, Actis, Ms Funke Okubadejo.
Speaking on the investment climate in Nigeria, Uduanu said, “Nigeria could be at an inflection point and for us to come out stronger, we have to believe in markets, especially with unifying exchange rates.”
He stated that there was a huge potential yet untapped in organising the informal sectors and technology as well as in funding assets.
Uduanu said, “In terms of investments, there is a renewed focus on every alternative, whether it is real estate, or private equity. But I would like to highlight asset financing.
“Today, everybody, every school, every hospital, owns their real estate. You don’t need to own your real estate, especially as the PFAs have a lot of liquidity, and this liquidity can be used to finance assets.”
On his part, Ogunjimi said, “I think Nigeria is definitely investable. I have a bit of a contrarian view when it comes to investments.
“And, I think it is really usually institutions of turmoil that create generational wealth because if you have a perfect environment, it is hard to get any kind of investment when all the problems have been solved.
“So the question is, how do you look at the problems we have as opportunities? I do agree that those problems create a lot of challenges, especially for us as institutional investors but for people as individual investors, I think there are a lot of opportunities.”
Speaking on investing in Nigeria, Akin-Olugbade noted that investments should be targeted towards investing in companies and products that were solutions to problems in Nigeria.
“Nigeria is totally investable. I think, fundamentally, investors should invest in businesses that are addressing the basic necessities of life,” she said.