Imagine if Softbank’s Masayoshi Son can do this in Lagos or Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund acts techie

Imagine if we can experience this type of energetic deals in Nigeria. Possibly, recession will be history by now.

Softbank is poised to sell 25 percent of ARM — roughly $8 billion — to a new, Saudi-backed $100 billion investment fund, the Financial Times has reported. The Japanese shelled out $32 billion to purchased ARM only six months ago.

The move is likely to guarantee greater influence for Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi state-backed investment group, in the global semiconductor industry. Mubadala, which owns 100 percent of Globalfoundries, reportedly wanted the $100 billion Vision Fund to own a portion of ARM.

$100 billion Vision Fund
Japan’s Softbank announced last fall an ambitious plan to create the Softbank Vision Fund — a financial vehicle that would allow CEO Masayoshi Son to invest in the technology sector globally. The Fund, set up to raise $100 billion, aims to become “one of the world’s largest of its kind,” said Softbank last year.

While Softbank expects to pump at least $25 billion into the fund over the next 5 years, its biggest investor is Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which last year committed to contribute up to $45 billion.

My Son, our Abuja airport is closed, but the Lagos one is open. We need this type of deal making. We do hope he could get the Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund to begin to see technology as an industry it could pump capital even as it invests in infrastructure.

Sure, it is likely that Nigerian startups may not have the scale Son requires, but we could get him to do a pivot. The telecoms sector is decent enough. There is need to have someone who could be a deal-maker like him to show interests in Nigeria.

How can you get Saudi Arabia to invest in Nigeria? You need someone who is a mad genius in making deals and winning. And if we have 2-3 of such, the country will be transformed.