The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the concession of nine federal road corridors under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), according to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
The project, which will utilise the Public Private Partnership Model, is expected to generate N11.54 trillion in the 25 years concession period under the regulatory guidance of ICRC.
ICRC further said that the partnership will enable the development and management of the federal road network, thereby supplementing the federal government’s budgetary allocation for infrastructural development.
The nine approved roads include Benin-Asaba, a 125 kilometers road that has been concessioned for a 25-year period to Africa Plus Consortium and is expected to generate N1.58 trillion within the period.
Second is the 195 kilometers Abuja- Lokoja road which, was concessioned to Avia Infrastructure Services Limited (AISL) for a 25-year period and is expected to generate N1.76 trillion.
The third is the 161.2km Onitsha-Owerri-Aba route, which was given to Eyimba Economic City Consortium and is expected to generate N706 billion in the 25-year concession period.
Fourth is the Shagamu– Benin road, a 258 kilometers road that has been concessioned to AFC/Mota Engil Consortium for 25 years period and is expected to generate N2 trillion.
Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga is the fifth route and is a 175.9 kilometers road that is to be managed by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd for a 25-year concession period. It is expected to generate N540 billion within the period.
Sixth is the Kano-Shuari road, a 100 kilometers road that is concessioned to Dafac Consortium for a 27 years period. It is projected that the road will generate N813 billion within the period of concession.
The seventh road that was approved is the Enugu– Port Harcourt, which is a 200 kilometers road. It was concessioned to Eyimba Economic City Consortium for 25 years and the expected revenue is put at N1.15 trillion.
The eighth road is the 80 kilometers Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road, which is expected to generate N1.57 trillion in the 25-year concession period. It was concessioned to Africa Plus Consortium.
According to ICRC, FEC also approved the concession of the Lagos-Badagry-Seme Border, a 79-kilometer route, and was given to AFC/Mota Engil Consortium for a 25-year period with projected revenue of N1.35 trillion.
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Manji Yarling, acting head of Media and Publicity at ICRC, said the highway development project which was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing originally targets 12 road corridors within which there are 13 routes, however, three corridors and one route are yet to reach the FEC approval stage.
“The projects aim to ensure the management and development of the Nigerian Federal Road Network with the ultimate aim of achieving adequate highway services across the entire network through construction, rehabilitation, and management of the road pavement in line with the Federal Government’s economic reform agenda and global best practices,” he said.
Given the concession, he said, the concessionaires will be responsible for the expansion, re-alignment, rehabilitation, and maintenance of existing road pavement and bridge, construction of interchanges and pedestrian crossing, and construction and operations of tolling operations as well as provision of towing services.
“They will also provide ambulance services and refuse management, provision of directional signage, provision of rest areas, highway illumination, among others,” he added.
He said the projected revenue from private investors is expected to decrease the financial burden of maintaining and rehabilitating the concessioned highway roads and will allow the Federal Government to meet other obligations.
