By Adedapo Adesanya

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) is targeting about N1 trillion over the next four years to unlock long-term funding for infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

According to the Lagos-based credit-guarantee company’s chief executive, Mr Chinua Azubike, it expects to execute the target  transactions from its existing pipeline.

He said the pipeline comprises contracted clients that have completed initial screening, signed mandate letters and entered due diligence, with loan approvals and financial close expected over the next four years, he said.

“We have seen moderation in interest rates and stability in the foreign-exchange environment, and so we see opportunities to actually do more in the capital market in Nigeria,” Azubike said, as per Bloomberg.

Infracredit will be betting on looser leverage rules and easing borrowing costs that has been carried out by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

SEC last year proposed rules permitting such firms to maintain leverage of as much as 10 times capital while the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank cut rates by 50 basis points to 27 per cent in September, easing for the first time in five years.

Although the CBN held the interest rate at 27 per cent in November 2025, there are expectations that there will be further reductions as inflation continues to ease.

Bloomberg reported that InfraCredit has used its roughly N328 billion capital base to provide credit guarantees for 27 projects spanning roads, housing and renewable energy.

Last week, it provided credit enhancement for a local currency debt issuance by First Electric Power and Automation Services Limited, backing a clean energy project under a co-financing arrangement with the Climate Finance Blending Facility. The transaction marks the facility’s first mesh-grid clean energy project and its sixth deal overall.

The firm is now seeking to capitalize on President Bola Tinubu’s push to expand public works, as Nigeria faces an infrastructure funding gap estimated at more than $3 trillion over the next three decades.

“The guarantees we issue are designed to derisk projects” and enable “infrastructure companies to issue long-term debt that pension funds and insurance companies can lend to,” Mr Azubike said.

The InfraCredit CEO said the company plans to accelerate credit mobilization by tapping its over-the-counter listing and taking advantage of the new regulations that allow credit-guarantee firms to assume more risk to back additional lending.

“Our leverage now is roughly close to one time, so there is still room to stretch the company’s balance sheet by issuing more guarantees against its capital,” Mr Azubike said.

Launched in 2017 and backed at inception by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the UK’s Private Infrastructure Development Group, InfraCredit now counts domestic institutional investors, mainly pension funds, among its largest shareholders, which hold about 40 per cent of the company.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

On Monday, January 26, 2026, President Bola Tinubu will leave Abuja for Türkiye for a state visit aimed at “strengthening the existing cordial relations between the two countries and exploring further areas of cooperation in security, education, social development, innovation, and aviation.”

This is according to a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.

The president’s spokesman disclosed that the visit is to reciprocate an official two-day visit of Turkish President, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to Nigeria on October 19, 2021.

Mr Tinubu, according to the statement, will be going to European nation along with other senior government officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Yusuf Tuggar; the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); the Minister of Defence, Mr Christopher Musa; and the chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Mr Jimi Benson.

Others on the entourage of the president are the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Ms Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim; the Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; the Minister of Culture and Creative Economy, Ms Hannatu Musawa; the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Nuhu Ribadu; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr Mohammed Mohammed.

During the visit, both countries will engage in strategic political and diplomatic discussions on shared values in finance, communication, trade and investment.

The agenda will include meetings between high-ranking officials of both nations and the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in scientific research, energy, technical cooperation, media and communications, military cooperation and protocol, among others.

A business forum will bring together investors from both countries to explore areas of interest during the visit, with Mr Tinubu expected to return to Nigeria afterwards.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Over 120 malnourished children in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State have been given nutritional support, medical screening, and caregiver education.

This was made possible through an initiative known as the Project BLOOM (Bringing Life to Our Overlooked Minors) put together by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc in partnership with the Lagos State government and the Health Emergency Initiative (HEI).

NGX Group staff volunteers worked alongside Lagos State health workers and HEI facilitators during the outreach, assisting with screenings and data recording. Structured follow-up visits are scheduled after four weeks to monitor recovery and provide extended care where necessary.

The Alimosho programme was the third under the initiative. The beneficiaries were hosted at the Lagos State Health District I.

Earlier, the initiative benefitted residents of Yaba and Ajegunle. Over 320 children and 300 caregivers were reached, with monitoring data showing that more than 50 per cent of beneficiaries in the first two phases entered recovery.

The chief executive of NGX Group, Mr Temi Popoola, linked the initiative to broader economic resilience, saying, “Sustainable capital markets are built on strong social foundations. The recovery rates we see with Project BLOOM prove that targeted, collaborative action between the public sector, civil society, and the private sector can deliver tangible impact.”

Also, the Executive Director of HEI, Achunine Pascal, said child malnutrition remains a major contributor to under-five mortality in Nigeria, adding that Project BLOOM is designed to go beyond immediate food support through structured follow-up and continued care.

On his part, the chairman of Alimosho Local Government Area, Mr Akinpelu Ibrahim Johnson, said the initiative supports the council’s long-term strategy for improving child nutrition through early detection, prevention, and effective management of malnutrition.

Representing the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Health District I, Dr. Solomon Adeyanju commended NGX Group for its commitment to child health, describing Project BLOOM as a valuable complement to the state’s primary healthcare efforts.

With additional outreaches planned, the partners reaffirmed their commitment to reducing preventable child mortality while strengthening the social foundations required for sustainable economic growth.