About N160 billion investment, representing N16 billion per road, is on the way along with 46,694 direct jobs as the federal government concessions 10 highways across Nigeria in the first phase of its Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI).
The 10 highways slated for concessions are Beini-Asaba, Abuja-Lokoja, Kaduna-Kano, Onitsha-Owerri-Aba, Shagamu-Benin, Abuja-Keffii-Akwanga, Kano-Maiduguri, Lokoja-Bein, Enugu-Port Harcourt, and Ilorin-Jebba
Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing disclosed this in his keynote speech at a Webinar on ‘Public-Private Partnership for National Highway Development and Management Initiative’ hosted by the Lagos Business School on Thursday, June 25, 2020.
The minister explained that the 10 highways to be concessioned in collaboration with the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) represent 2225km or about 6.4 percent of the country’s 35,000 km highways network.
“On each road, we see an opportunity for erection of directional signage which the ministry has designed, standardized, and set the cost. We also see opportunities for toll plazas which have already been designed and standardized. There are also opportunities for way bridges some of which have been constructed,” he noted.
Continuing, he said, “we see street lighting and advertising opportunities. There are also opportunities for car repairs, spare parts sales, vulcanizing, road repairs and maintenance, vegetation clearing, towing operations for recovering broken down vehicles, waste management and refuse collection on the highways, and ambulance services for first responders during emergencies.”
Fashola explained further that the 46694 direct jobs to be created that would span construction, installation, fabrication, waste management, etc, adding that the indirect jobs will also be created.
He warned that those who are interested in this initiative should not send written proposals to his ministry. They should rather form themselves into cooperatives, road repair or construction consortiums, financiers, toll operators, rest house operators, advertising companies, refuse managers, ambulance service providers, etc.
