The federal government has guarantied about $25 billion foreign direct investment for critical infrastructure in the country. This is part of the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) package by the government aimed at stimulating the economy.
This disclosure was said to have been made known to participants of the just concluded six week Focus lab for members of the group.
Some members of the group that spoke to BusinessDay said the money is going to be invested in critical infrastructure such as power sector, manufacturing, transportation, health , education ,works and others.
They said government has asked them to bring forwards projects that can be supported for the purpose of ease of doing business in their sectors so that she can facilitate the execution of such projects.
“After the stakeholders were brought to participate in the Focus Lab, the government at the end of the exercise disclosed to us that there is $25 billion ready to be invested on critical infrastructure in various sectors of the economy,” one of the participants said.
Another official a multinational company operating in the country said the plan now is that the government wants to fast track development in all the sectors of the economy that is why she has asked that critical projects be identified so that they can be followed through.
He said what the government is planning to do is possible if the necessary guaranty enabling condition are put in place. “With this money, you may be seeing some expansions in some areas and the interest on the money would not be more than 6 per cent,” he said.
What the government want to do is not new as such a thing has be done in one of the South East Asian countries, he said.
The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is a Medium Term Plan for 2017 – 2020, developed by the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for the purpose of restoring economic growth while leveraging the ingenuity and resilience of the Nigerian people – the nation’s most priceless assets.
The ERGP builds on existing sectoral strategies and plans such as the National Industrial Revolution Plan, and the Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan. The ERGP will strengthen the successful components of these previous strategies and plans while addressing challenges observed in their implementation. The ERGP is also consistent with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it addresses SDGs three dimensions of economic, social and environmental sustainability issues.
