When the coastal town of Maricá, Brazil, launched a sovereign wealth fund in 2017, it gave city leaders a new tool for long‑term development. The fund, seeded with oil royalties, now exceeds R$2 billion (about $415 million) and finances everything from a seaport and a five‑star resort to a satellite teleport and a thriving samba school.
How Maricá’s Fund Works
Maricá’s basic‑income program, called Renda Básica de Cidadania, provides 230 Mumbucas (roughly $45) each month to households earning less than three times the national minimum wage. The money must be spent locally, keeping purchasing power within the city. A 2024 study by the Jain Family Institute found that participating households increased their income by 9%.
To protect the fund’s purpose, the city created CODEMAR, a development company at arm’s length from the mayor’s office. CODEMAR invests in projects that create jobs and improve quality of life, such as a new seaport projected to generate 13,000 jobs, a five‑star resort, greenhouses, a technology park and airport expansions. The fund also supports non‑profit goals like food security and climate‑resilience, even though those sectors are not high‑profit.
Challenges and Political Reality
Because the fund is managed by a municipality rather than a state or federal government, its capital base is modest. Large projects still require financing from Brazil’s Development Bank or the World Bank, which tend to favor cities without oil revenue. Governance is another concern: a new mayor can change the fund’s leadership, strategy or even its legal framework.
Maricá’s political leadership has been dominated by the Workers’ Party (PT) since 2009, leading some observers to label the fund a “PT laboratory.” Yet other Brazilian cities—Ilhabela, led by a mayor linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro, and the state of Paraná—have launched similar funds, showing the model can cross partisan lines.
What It Means for U.S. Cities
In the United States, only Alaska and Texas operate sovereign‑wealth‑style funds, both built on mineral and oil royalties. Most U.S. municipalities lack a comparable surplus, making a direct copy of Maricá’s approach impractical. Paul Katz of the Jain Family Institute cautions that creating a fund without a surplus would be unwise.
Nevertheless, the discussion aligns with national proposals from President Trump’s administration, which in February 2025 ordered the Treasury and Commerce departments to explore a national sovereign wealth fund, and from Senator Bernie Sanders, who has suggested taxing AI‑company shares to fund a dividend for Americans. A federal fund could provide the capital that cities need to pursue large‑scale projects, but the ultimate decision rests with local leaders and their constituents.
Takeaway for Community Leaders
Maricá’s experience offers a case study in how a city can use resource wealth to fund long‑term development while preserving local control. For U.S. towns and cities, the lesson may be less about replicating the exact fund and more about seeking innovative financing mechanisms—public‑private partnerships, regional development banks, or state‑level stabilization funds—to support infrastructure, job creation and community resilience.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
