Nigeria needs $15b yearly for infrastructure, says official
From Anietie Akpan, Calabar
THE Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Mansur Ahmed, has declared that the country needs between $12 billion and $15 billion yearly for infrastructure development.
Over the next five to six years, he said between $60 billion and $90 billion would be required by the country to close its infrastructure gaps and the Federal Government's yearly budget could only cover a fraction of this requirement.
Hence, Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke has called on the Federal Government to have a rethink on its policies.
In his presentation on "Creating an effective PPP regime under the Infrastructure Regulatory Commission Act and its related PPP policies," at a one-day regional workshop on Public Private Partnership (PPP) Policy and Infrastructure Financing organised by ICRC in collaboration with the Cross River State Government at Tinapa Business Resort, Calabar, Ahmed said given the prevailing scenario, the country would have to resort to the private sector if it would attain the Vision 20:2020 aspirations. He added that the ICRC Act 2005 was passed to aid private sector funding under PPP.
While opening the one-day workshop, Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State pointed out that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) was a viable agent for the development of the country, which deserved the support of all.
Imoke congratulated the commission on its birth, noting that "Government could have done everything but has not recorded tremendous success, which calls for a rethink of its policies."
He noted that it was time for government to prioritise its spending and look into the issue of PPP and concessioning because there was room for partnership that would make NGOs to be part of it, adding that the state intended to bring ICRC into its initiatives like the Calabar Energy City Project.
The governor noted the state's desire to partner with the private sector in its health care delivery programme and tourism, adding that ICRC should be seen as a key to economic development and a more prosperous future for the people.
He suggested that one of the ways for the government to achieve success was to work with the private sector, which has high technical know-how, as the ICRC would hasten the mechanism for the Federal Government to accelerate such collaboration.
Imoke said the commission holds the key to unlocking Nigeria's potential to development and congratulated it on being entrusted with the task of the rebirth of the country.
The ICRC Chairman, Chief Ernest Shonekan, in his welcome address read by Mazi Clement Obonah, said the board had decided to organise three regional workshops in Lagos, Kano and Calabar to present the policy of government at the state level .
He said it was hoped that the workshops would enable the board to develop a framework for the sharing of ideas and experiences and facilitate effective cooperation between state and federal agencies in implementing future PPP projects to the benefit of the economy.
