23rd August, 2022
The development of African sovereign wealth funds is a slow process and missed targets are the norm, but a combination of the continent’s natural wealth, human resources and political will are facilitating progress.
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22nd August, 2022
Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, is preparing to float a stake in oil company KazMunayGas (KMG) to raise “hundreds of million of dollars”, which will help fund a pipeline of projects including the development of renewable energy.
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9th August, 2022
The UAE is comprised of seven different emirates, even though we often hear about the largest two only: Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The third major emirate is Sharjah, which hosts 23% of the population in just 3% of the area. It is the third largest economy, with about US$ 25 billion GDP, even though it only holds about 2% of the oil reserves, suggesting certain degree of diversification.
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6th July, 2022
Hearing about a government fund fundraise capital from other state-owned investors should not be longer a surprise. The “Russian model” (after RDIF) of establishing a public vehicle to catalyze foreign co-investors via partnerships was quickly followed by other European countries (Italy, France, Spain) and is now big in Asia (India, Indonesia).
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27th June, 2022
The past few days have been quite eventful for African SWFs. Last week, nine of the most active strategic funds of the continent signed an MoU in Rabat to create the African Sovereign Investment Forum (ASIF).
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13th June, 2022
Last Saturday, the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) unveiled a secret the international press had long wondered about: the current state of its balance sheet. And to the surprise of many, the number was US$ 139 billion, including US$ 110 billion in loans and US$ 29 billion in cash. According to Global SWF ranking, that makes it the world’s 17th largest SWF.
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1st June, 2022
On January 31, 2022, the Federal Negarit Gazette of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia announced the establishment of the Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) to serve as the country’s strategic investment arm. The fund will have an authorized capital of ETB 100 bn (US$ 1.9 bn at today’s exchange rate) and be seeded with over 43 public enterprises across different sectors, including Ethiopian Airlines, CBE and Ethio Telecom, as well as significant landholdings. We had the great pleasure of chatting with EIH’s CEO, Mr. Mamo Mihretu, and its Deputy CEO, Ms. Bilen Mammo, about the fund’s establishment and vision of the organization’s future.
24th May, 2022
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) shrugged off the impact of market volatility to post its ninth successive year of earnings, but has warned 2022 could be the most challenging year yet due to the impact of inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supply chain bottlenecks on all asset classes.
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23rd May, 2022
Saudi Arabia’s US$600 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) has snapped up a 17% stake in Kingdom Holdings (KHC), a Saudi private investor in industry and real estate majority owned by its billionaire founder Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, for US$1.5 billion – suggesting the two entities could align more closely in areas of common interest.
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6th May, 2022
Ethiopia has deployed its nascent sovereign wealth fund Ethiopia Investment Holdings (EIH) to broker a deal with neighboring Djibouti to ensure the East African country’s energy security.
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26th April, 2022
Kazakhstan’s Samruk Kazyna sovereign wealth fund is hiring someone to help draft its new strategy and seeking to boost transparency and improve governance, just months after cutting half its staff to 124 personnel and closing offices in Beijing, Moscow and London and ahead of plans to divest portfolio companies.
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18th April, 2022
The past few years have not been easy for the finances of Oman Inc. The Sultanate has one of the smallest shares of crude oil reserves in the GCC and the second highest fiscal breakeven point, after Bahrain. For the period 2015-2021, Omanis needed the oil price to be above $87/barrel to make money – which never happened, until January 2022.
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