Nigeria’s infrastructure rebuild gets N15trn presidential backing
Nigeria is to make another push for a major publicprivate initiative aimed at rebuilding its derelict infrastructure and generating badly needed jobs in Africa’s largest economy. The innovative plan is to be crystallised via a company, Infraco, which has been seeded with N1 trillion in equity capital to give it a good chance of success, BusinessDay has learnt.
The government said in a State House statement on Friday that the initiative has been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, who has directed his vice president to lead the steering committee.
Infraco will have a board to be chaired by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the board shall draw membership from among the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the managing director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), president of the Africa Finance Corporation, and will also consist of three well selected independent directors.
Infra- Co, whose equity should grow over time to N15 trillion, will be one of the premier infrastructure finance entities in Africa and will be wholly dedicated to Nigerian infrastructural development.
Documents seen by Businessday show that Infra-co evolved from concepts and representations by the National Economic Council, the central bank and NSIA.
The initial seed capital for the entity will come from the CBN, NSIA, and the Africa Finance Corporation.
To address Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit, the government continues to explore innovative options, including through financing initiatives such as the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) designed to cater for the 2nd Niger Bridge and the Kano-abuja Road, among other projects.
There is also the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, which, for example, is being used to fund the Bodo-bonny Road (with NLNG).
Infra-co will finance public asset development, rehabilitation, reconstruction as well as invest in cutting-edge infrastructure projects for roads, rail, power and other key sectors.