FG builds capacity of MDAs staff on packaging bankable projects

The Federal Ministry on Tuesday built the capacity of staff in some key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on how to package bankable infrastructure Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma at the Capacity Workshop for the MDAs in Abuja, said PPP financing was a dependable option for government to develop infrastructure.

Udoma, who was represented by the director, Administration, Christian Ezeilo said it was clear that one of the fundamental responsibilities of the government was to provide adequate infrastructure.

He said the dwindling revenues and increasing competing demands made it difficult for government to meet its responsibilities.

“Therefore, exploring alternative options became inevitable and PPP is one of the reliable options.

“It reduces financial burden in government and enable it to free up scarce resources to be allocated to other spending priorities,’’ the minister said.

Udoma, however, said that one major challenge to optimise PPP financing option was inadequate capacity in the MDAs to package potential bankable infrastructure projects.

He said that bankable projects needed to be prepared and packaged to attract private investment.

According to him, to develop bankable projects requires time, money and technical know-how.

He said that the government would build the capacity of MDAs to possess adequate knowledge and skills set in different areas of PPP competencies.

The minister said that the government had developed the National Integrated Infrastructure Master (NIIMP), a 30-year plan aimed at increasing infrastructure stock to 70 per cent of Gross Domestic Product by 2043.

In his address, the Deputy Director/ Head of Infrastructure Unit in the ministry, David Adeosun said that the private sector was expected to collaborate with the government to implement the NIIMP.

“Nigeria will require 3.5 trillion dollars to implement the plan for 30 years and private sector is expected to account for 48 percent of the investment.

“We need to promote PPP to achieve the investment and government is providing enabling environment to involve the private sector,’’ he said.

The director said that the hosting of the workshop was a practical demonstration of the PPP between the ministry and the Infrastructure Bank (TIB).

In his address, the Managing Director of TIB Plc, Adekunle Oyinloye said that the private sector remained willing to work with the government in strategic ways to fund infrastructure deficit.

Oyinloye said that private sector would work with the government through adroit transaction structuring that comprehensively addressed the projects risks faced by project promoters as well as assuring the return on and of capital invested.

“PPP is a very potent tool for channelling investment into infrastructure space.

“ Clearly, the decision by the three tiers of government on which project to select for development by way of PPP is critical and vital to the success of such projects as investors’ risk appetite at any given time is finite.

“As such, the bank is keen to empower, sensitise and educate decision makers within infrastructure-focused MDAs on how to identify, prioritise and select candidate PPP projects to be implemented in the short and medium term,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Capacity Building Workshop for the implementation of the NIIMP was organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in collaboration with TIB Plc. (NAN)