Nigeria's Pension Industry Will Pick a Manager for Its $750 Million Infrastructure Platform Through a Competitive Process: A GP Playbook for Pitching a Domestic Pension Group

Nigeria's pension industry and FSD Africa have agreed to develop a $750 million infrastructure platform, and the manager that runs it will be chosen through a competitive process. According to announcements reported on 9 and 10 November 2026, about $600 million is targeted from Nigerian pension funds, at least $150 million from development finance institutions and a first close of $350 million is expected in 2027. We set out the deal itself in our note on the platform and its structure. This playbook is for a fund manager who wants to be in the room when the process opens.

Everything below the facts is our advice, not guidance from the pension industry or FSD Africa, and no timetable for the selection process has been announced.

Why this process is different from a normal fundraise

In a typical raise, a manager approaches many pension funds one by one. Here, 19 Nigerian pension funds have shown interest as a group, a pipeline of 39 projects needing about $20 billion has been identified, and the manager will be selected for a defined mandate: equity and quasi-equity in energy, transport and digital infrastructure, with at least 60% in Nigeria. A manager is being hired for a specific job, so the pitch should read like a tender response rather than a general fund presentation. We covered the opposite situation, where demand outruns supply, in our playbook on raising when LPs are racing to join. A competitive process is the mirror image: the investors set the terms and managers compete to meet them.

Step 1: Match your strategy to the stated mandate

List the three sectors, the instruments and the 60% Nigeria weighting, and test your strategy against each. If your fund is a pan-African or global infrastructure vehicle, work out honestly how much of it could be deployed in Nigeria and say so. If your strategy does not fit, decide early whether to bid at all, because a weak fit will show in a formal process.

Step 2: Show a record that translates to local conditions

Build your track record around deals that resemble the pipeline: operating assets, regulated or contracted revenues and local-currency exposure. Explain how you handled currency, since the core fund is denominated in naira and a foreign-currency parallel vehicle is only possible. Say how you would report performance in both currencies. Prepare materials that could go into a formal due diligence pack for limited partners.

Step 3: Think about the co-investment leg

The structure includes a separate vehicle that lets participating pension funds invest alongside the main fund. A manager who can show a clear process for allocating co-investment opportunities, with defined terms and timing, addresses something the structure was built to provide. Be careful not to promise terms to individual pension funds before any process allows it.

Step 4: Plan for a first close of $350 million

The first close is about 47% of the $750 million target. If the winning manager is expected to reach it in 2027, a bidder should show a credible plan: who the anchor commitments would come from, how development lenders would be approached, and how closes would be staged. An anchor investor strategy is easier to defend when it names the type of investor and the amount rather than a hope. Do not claim that any named pension fund or development lender has committed to you.

Step 5: Map relationships without bypassing the process

FSD Africa has said it will support the competitive selection and engage investors. The sensible use of relationships is to understand the criteria, not to lobby for an outcome. Ask in your network who has worked with the pension industry council or its members, and use a warm introduction only to ask how to take part properly. Do not seek or use personal contact details, and do not approach evaluators outside whatever channel is announced.

Step 6: Prepare for the open questions

Several items are undisclosed: the manager fee terms, the fund term, target returns, the legal form and the minimum per pension fund. A strong bidder will model more than one case for each and show how the fund works under them. Treat this as preparation, since you cannot know the answer yet.

What to avoid

Do not treat the 19 interested pension funds as committed investors, because interest is not a commitment and none of them has been named. Do not quote the $600 million pension target as money that is available to you. Do not present a development lender role as settled either, since the $150 million is described as a minimum sought, not a signed amount. Keep every claim in your bid tied to something you can document, and keep your first approach short enough to be forwarded without edits.

What to watch next

Watch for the launch of the selection process, the names of the participating pension funds and the foreign-currency vehicle decision. FundLinx members can see which pensions are building infrastructure programs.

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