Builders want increased investment to achieve 70% infrastructure stock

To push its infrastructure stock from the present 30-35 percent to 70 percent, Nigeria needs to invest about $2.3 trillion in the next 20 years, operators in the country’s building and construction industry have said.

This is in line with the reviewed national integrated infrastructure master plan which estimates the value of Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit at $2.3 trillion which requires an expenditure of $150 billion annually to achieve the 70 percent target.

Clement Agba, former minister of state for finance, budget and national planning, explained that the master plan provided the roadmap for building a world-class infrastructure that would guarantee sustainable growth and development in Nigeria.

The builders, under the aegis of Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), said that for Nigeria to close the gap in its housing and infrastructure needs, it has to train more artisans, adding that about 10 million artisans need to be trained for this purpose in the next 20 years.

A member of the Senior Artisans Association of Nigeria told newsmen at a forum in Lagos that any government committed to the nation’s infrastructure development and housing delivery must show interest in technical and vocational education which would stimulate patronage of indigenous manpower.

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Experts estimate Nigeria’s housing deficit at 20 million units which was not done by any hard research but shows the depth of housing and infrastructure shortfall.

“For every building, there are many artisans, including masons, carpenters, and plumbers among others, meaning that, at an average project site, you would need hundreds of artisans and that is one of the areas we have been charged to go and address the shortage of artisans,” the member who did not want to be named, said.

Continuing, he said, “The number cannot be static even though the population is growing every day and development needs are expanding. We have been retrogressive because our infrastructure has been comatose. We need more infrastructure to build new schools and homes.”

He noted that, for a country with 200 million people and a housing shortfall of 20 million if the people were going to try to address that shortfall within 20 years, they need about 10 million artisans.

“We need millions of artisans. The target of the council is to build up, at least, 100,000 artisans every year; so far, we want to significantly boost the number of building professionals,” he said, disclosing that the council trained 40,000 people recently.