Nigerian pension fund assets rose 31% year-on-year to reach $22.6 billion in April.
The jump came after assets invested in domestic equities more than doubled in value, adding nearly $3 billion to the pool within the period.
Most Nigerian pension fund assets are held in federal government securities, and their value grew 18% over the past year. But the domestic capital market’s influence on pension fund growth underscores efforts by the industry to invest more in the public market. In a bid to boost these efforts, Nigeria’s pensions regulator in May waived a rule that bars funds from investing in companies that fail to demonstrate profitability for three years.
Pension funds belong to a diverse mix of $4 trillion in reserve funds that African governments could unlock to finance the continent’s infrastructure needs, according to the Africa Finance Corporation, a multilateral lender.