Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Henshaw Capital Partners Barbara James said Nigeria was capabale of building a USD 20 billion private equity industry in seven years. However, in order to reach this goal by 2020, James said Nigeria would need to produce anywhere from 15 to 20 new private equity fund managers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC each year in the next few years. To help meet this need, Henshaw Capital Partners would be hosting a seminar in Lagos on Thursday, November 14. The seminar aimed to increase the awareness of private equity fund managers on the requirements for registering a private equity fund in Nigeria. This would be the 15^th private equity seminar formed by Henshaw Capital which also organized the Nigeria National Private Equity Initiative. The Securities and Exchange Commission in the country has co-sponsored the activity.

In a statement, James said about the seminar, "This is why we are organising this seminar, to inform aspiring and existing fund managers of the private equity opportunity in Nigeria and the requirements for fund registration. Private equity fund managers who do not register with the SEC cannot access the over $1 billion currently available for private equity from local Nigerian institutional investors."

The seminar on Thursday would feature Nigeria's primary credit rating agency, Agusto & Co and would also be participated in by K & L Gates, a US law firm.

James said underscored the importance of registering with the SEC. She said, "Also international institutional investors are more likely to invest in funds that can secure local institutional investment, so at Henshaw, we encourage existing and new private equity fund managers to go and register with the SEC. By attending the seminar, they will learn what they need to do to register and be able to ask questions about any part of the registration process.