Nigeria's ARM Infrastructure Fund (ARMIF) is expected to achieve financial close in August this year, Reuters has announced.

According to the source, Opuiyo Oforiokuma, managing director of the fund, has said that they expect to close the fund by mid-August and that the fund was at the documentation stage with various investors including some Nigerian pension funds and other institutional investors such as the African Development Bank.

The ARM Infrastructure Fund (ARMIF) is a US$250 million closed end specialist private equity fund. The fund focuses on investing in infrastructure projects in West Africa and Nigeria in particular.

Transport, Energy and Utilities are the fund's main sectors of interest. The fund considers Brownfield and greenfield projects. The fund has parallel legal structure to allow foreign investors to invest in the fund.

The fund is currently the major shareholder of Lekki-Epe Expressway concession in Nigeria.

Mr. Oforiokuma said this will be the first time local pension funds are actually going to invest in infrastructure. Reuters said that Nigeria's pension assets have grown to $25 billion in 2014, from under $4 billion seven years ago, as the government targets schemes to try to encourage domestic savings.

The fund will invest for a period of 12 years, targeting investment returns of 18-20 percent over the period.