Image: Jamie Tubers / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The FCMB-TLG Private Debt Fund raised ₦20.69bn against a ₦20bn target in its Series II offer, with PFAs contributing more than three quarters of the capital.
The FCMB-TLG Private Debt Fund raised ₦20.69bn in its Series II offer against a ₦20bn target, a subscription of 103.43%, Vanguard reported on 17 July 2026. The naira-denominated fund is managed by FCMB Asset Management Limited with TLG Capital as technical partner, under a ₦100bn issuance programme. The offer attracted 22 investors.
Pension money as anchor
James Ilori, chief executive of FCMB Asset Management, said pension fund administrators contributed more than three quarters of the capital. Zain Latif, chief executive of TLG Capital, said: “Local pension capital is anchoring private credit for the real economy.” Vanguard reported that FCMB Asset Management, as fund manager, invested 3% of the offer size, as required by regulation.
Series I, launched in September 2024 and also oversubscribed, deployed its ₦10bn within twelve months. By March 2026 it had distributed ₦3.46bn to unitholders, which the managers described as a cumulative dividend yield of 33.22%. The fund lends to mid-sized companies in approved sectors including agriculture, clean energy, education, healthcare, technology and transport and logistics.
Why it matters
Private credit in Nigeria has mostly meant bank lending or offshore funds lending in dollars. A registered naira fund that pools pension capital and lends to mid-market companies creates a different channel, one that is less exposed to exchange rate mismatch for borrowers with naira revenues. The fact that PFAs anchored the raise shows that pension investment rules are accommodating this asset class, though pension investors take on valuation and liquidity risk in a closed-end structure where loans are not traded. For borrowers, a private debt fund typically offers more flexible structures than a bank, such as bullet repayments or tailored covenants, but will price that flexibility and usually take security and information rights similar to or stronger than a bank’s. Counsel negotiating with such funds should expect intercreditor questions where the borrower already has bank facilities, since the fund’s loan may rank behind secured bank debt unless the parties agree otherwise. The manager’s regulatory 3% co-investment aligns its interests with investors, and the Series I distribution record will be the benchmark against which future series are judged. With the MPR now cut to 23%, the attraction of double-digit private credit returns to pension funds will depend on how quickly yields on government securities fall.
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