Minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola has said the Federal Government will continue to leverage different models to develop road infrastructure.
Speaking during the bid opening ceremony for the concessioning of 12 federal road corridors, Fashola noted that Nigeria was heading in the right direction as it unlocks huge capital investment into road infrastructure.
According to him, the government in recent times has been able to raise the needed funds for road infrastructure through Sukuk bonds and tax credit scheme, among others.
He said, “Nigeria is heading the right direction because we are at the point of unlocking capital investment in trillion of naira into our road infrastructure assets.
“We have been able to leverage other models for road infrastructure development, such as the Sukuk, we have initiated tax credit scheme, which has brought forth Dangote, NLNG, NNPC, BUA group, all putting their feet into water to contribute to constructing our road infrastructure.
“We are now at a very important milestone; the hybrid asset concessions where 12 roads are under consideration for about 18 shortlisted companies.”
The public bid opening on Wednesday is a continuation of the ongoing Value-Added Concession (VAC) procurement process, a public-private partnership initiative aimed at bringing sustainable development and management to federal highways and all assets along the right of way through private sector investment.
Under the arrangement, the concessionaires will assume the responsibilities to develop and manage their respective highways for an agreed period of time, including the economic rights over all revenue-generating commercial activities from the highway economy along the right of way.
The procurement process which started in March, 2021 had a total of 75 firms complete the RFQ application which applies to the 12 selected federal highways for concession, of which 18 firms were shortlisted.
Names of shortlisted companies and the designated roads include; Africa Finance Corporation on Shagamu-Benin, Lagos Badagry roads, China Harbour Engineering Company (Nigeria) Ltd on Abuja-Lokoja road.
Setraco Nigeria Limited on Benin-Asaba; Julius Berger Nigeria plc on Lagos-Abeokuta, Enyimba Economic City Development Company Consortium on Lagos-Badagry, Onitsha-Aba, Enugu-Port Harcourt roads.
Others are Deanshanger Consortium on Abuja- Lokoja, Dafac Consortium on Kano-Shurari, Craneburg Construction Company Limited on Lagos-Abeokuta, CCCC-CGC HDWAKS Joint venture on Lagos-Badagry, Ilorin-Jebba roads, Avia Infrastructure Service Limited on Abuja-Lokoja and Africa Plus Nigeria Limited on Benin-Asaba, Lagos- Abeokuta roads.
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The director-general of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE), Alex Okoh, commended the effort of the minister to seek alternative and creative models for the development of road infrastructure across the country.
According to him, “the BPE is working with various agencies of the government to ensure that projects under the PPP are executed according to the guidelines of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, as well as best global practices.
“In this way, we ensure that value for money is obtained in the procurement and management of critical infrastructure. And in this regard we are pleased to collaborate with the ministry of work and housing, to ensure that the laudable projects do not only bring financial gains but also ensure that the concessioners work with credible corporations to enhance these infrastructure assets.”
The acting director-general of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Micheal Ohiani, said the commission will continue to provide regulatory guidance to ensure sustainability and the emergence of credible concessioners from each exercise.
