African Export Import Bank (Afrexim) is to help Nigeria through the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) accelerate bankable Public Private Partnership projects that would enable the much needed investments in the country.
Chidi Izuwah, Chief Executive Officer at the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) announced this at a press meeting ahead of the Joint Public Private Partnership Consultative Forum & Nigerian Public Private Partnership Network Meeting holding in Abuja on Thursday.
The event is being held under the theme: Accelerating Bankable PPP Project Development in Nigeria – The Afreximbank Project Preparation Facility (APPF) Meeting and will bring togetherGovernors from across the States, key decision makers across Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government, the National Assembly and notable dignitaries in the PPP ecosystem to discuss how to transform the PPP landscape in Nigeria.
Izuwah said the Afreximbank Project Preparation Facility (APPF) seeks to support the supply of investment ready projects, bridging the infrastructure deficit in the continent and that the event seeks to help identify as well as improve the bankability of selected projects in Nigeria, with a view to accessing project preparation funds from the Bank.
“A key expected outcome of the programme is the selection of some bankable PPP projects across the country for the APPF.
“We also hope that the outcome of this dialogue session will greatly enrich our understanding of the concept of and approach to PPP in terms of policies, guidelines and operation in the delivery of infrastructure to Nigerians,” he stressed, noting states as important actors in the infrastructure plan.
The Public Private Partnership Consultative Forum, known as 3PUCF is designed to provide a platform for Heads of PPP Units in Federal MDAs for knowledge and experience sharing; ensure symmetry of effort towards institutionalizing the Federal Government’s PPP programme, provision of training and educational intervention among others.
He said the forum which is coordinated by the ICRC was created as a mutual vehicle to provide a one-point-platform for Federal PPP Units created principally to facilitate service delivery as well as ensure faster and reduced cost of project execution.
On the other hand, the Nigerian Public Private Partnership Network [NPPPN] was established in 2011 through collaboration between the ICRC, Lagos state PPP office, and the Nigerian Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF) to create a platform for all States Heads of PPP units nationwide.
Izuwah explained that the NPPPN was designed to serve as a knowledge and experience sharing forum to upscale the learning curve of public officers at the sub national level of government on Public Private Partnership form of procurement.
“The idea of a joint forum of strategic enablers within the PPP ecosystem is to strengthen synergy among key policy drivers across the PPP spectrum in Nigeria with a view to addressing common challenges and to be a helpful catalyst for growth in the use of PPP as a preferred procurement option across the states of the federation in line with a key aspect of the ICRC mandate which is to provide support and guidance for PPP initiatives undertaken by states as enshrined in the ICRC (Establishment, Etc.) Act, 2005.”
Reeling out major achievements of the ICRC at the press meeting, Izuwah lamented that major factor hindering potential infrastructure investments into Nigeria is lack of cost reflective tariffs.
“The problem I see also is cost reflective tariff and we must decide on what sacrifices to make because the investor should make his profit without having to look for subsidies to recover cost,” he said.
Corroborating the need for Nigeria to develop a robust PPP strategy to enable it tackle huge infrastructure deficit, Abdulateef Shittu, Executive Director at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said they have made tremendous efforts to encourage PPP in the states.
He said the PPP model has become important considering states’ tight finances for infrastructure.
He said so far, 20 states have fully established PPP offices which was literally driven by the NGF, as he hinted that the remaining ones are at different stages of consummating the Act to suit their own priorities and agenda.
He said knowledge and capacity are critical justifying the need for the planned workshop to enable idea sharing and work out solutions.
