President Bola Tinubu held a meeting with US-based investor Adebayo Ogunlesi, the chairperson of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday.
The presidency disclosed the meeting via a post on X.
Mr. Ogunlesi, a Nigerian lawyer and investment banker, sold his company, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), to BlackRock in January. As part of the deal, he is expected to join the board.
As of December 2023, BlackRock had about $10 trillion in assets under its management. Although the outcome of the meeting is not known, it comes on the heels of the recent establishment of the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund.
The government said the RHIDF is expected to provide a $25 billion per annum infrastructure funding gap. The fund is expected to start with a N20 trillion take-off capital, according to expectations from the federal government.
The fund is to target “strategic and meticulously chosen national infrastructure projects across several key sectors, including road, rail, agriculture (irrigation, storage, logistics & cold chain), ports, and aviation, among others.”
Mr. Ogunlesi’s BlackRock holds the kind of liquidity that could help drive the funds needed for the RHIDF.
Also, he has a major stake in the aviation sector, particularly airports. In 2006, GIP bought London City Airport. In 2009, it acquired a major stake in London Gatwick Airport in a deal worth £1.455 billion.
Some of the people at the meeting were the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Minister of Budget and Planning, Atiku Bagudu, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and others.
