Ewalefoh: Nigeria Needs $100bn Annually to Close $2.3 Trillion Infrastructure Gap, Unveils Contract Template for PPP Concession

James Emejo in Abuja

Director General/Chief Executive of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh, yesterday disclosed that the country required about $100 billion annually to bridge its estimated $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit by 2043.

Speaking at the opening of a one-day stakeholders’ engagement session and unveiling of the Model Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Agreement for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Abuja, Ewalefoh said government revenues alone could not finance the country’s vast development needs.

He said the Model PPP represented a standard contract template for every PPP concession in Nigeria, moving forward.

The ICRC boss said the scale of the infrastructure challenge had made private sector participation indispensable to the delivery of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

He said the country’s infrastructure deficit reflected decades of underinvestment in critical sectors, including roads, rail, power, healthcare, water supply and digital infrastructure.

Ewalefoh said, “I wish to begin this morning not with a speech, but with a figure: $2.3 trillion. That is the conservative estimate of Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit today — the value of the roads left unbuilt, the power that fails to reach our factories, the railways that exist more vividly in our plans than on our maps, and the hospitals, water systems, and digital infrastructure that a nation of over 230 million people urgently deserves.

“To close that gap by 2043, Nigeria must mobilise approximately $100 billion every year. Government revenue alone — even under the most disciplined fiscal management, even with every naira of oil receipts and every kobo of tax collection accounted for — cannot bear that weight.

“No federal budget, however ambitious, was ever designed to finance a nation’s entire infrastructure programme from the treasury alone. This is not an admission of weakness; it is simply a matter of arithmetic.”

He said the administration had placed PPPs at the centre of its infrastructure financing strategy, adding that the commission has spent the past two years developing a standardised framework aimed at making PPP transactions faster, more transparent and more attractive to investors.

Ewalefoh said the newly developed Model PPP Agreement, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, is designed to eliminate inconsistencies that had characterised concession agreements across government agencies for nearly two decades, often resulting in prolonged negotiations, disputes and difficulties in attracting long-term capital.

He said, “For nearly two decades following the ICRC Establishment Act of 2005, Nigeria approached PPPs on a project-by-project and MDA-by-MDA basis, frequently negotiating each concession from first principles.

“Definitions, risk allocation, default clauses, and dispute mechanisms were repeatedly reinvented, at times inconsistently, leaving Nigeria exposed and investors uncertain.

“This inconsistency carried tangible costs: concessions took years to negotiate, disputes escalated into litigation where risk allocation was ambiguous, and lenders remained hesitant to commit long-term capital.”

Ewalefoh explained that the agreement was developed after extensive consultations with legal experts, transaction advisers, investors, lenders, and government institutions, and benchmarked against global best practices.

He said the framework provided standard provisions on risk allocation, dispute resolution, lender protections, contract management, insurance, performance monitoring and anti-corruption safeguards.

Ewalefoh stated that the agreement would provide MDAs with a legally grounded and bankable starting point for negotiations, reducing transaction costs and shortening the path from project conception to financial close.

He stated, “Standardisation strengthens bankability, for serious lenders price risk according to certainty. A Model Agreement that allocates risk consistently, protects lenders through credible Direct Agreements, and resolves disputes through a transparent process lowers the cost of capital for every project conducted under it.

“And cheaper capital translates into more projects delivered sooner, and at lower cost to the Nigerian taxpayer.”

He also said Nigeria’s recent removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list had renewed investor interest in the country, adding that a credible PPP framework could help convert such interest into actual investments.

Ewalefoh said the agreement would also help diversify infrastructure financing sources beyond conventional bank lending to include pension funds, Sukuk, green bonds and blended finance instruments.

Earlier, Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba, described Nigeria Model PPP Agreement as a major milestone towards standardising contractual expectations, balancing investor confidence with public interest, and strengthening governance in infrastructure delivery.

Jedy-Agba commended the collaboration between Federal Ministry of Justice and ICRC in developing the framework, stating that legal experts from across the country have contributed to refining the document through a series of consultations and PPP Lawyers’ Retreats.

Jedy-Agba stated, “The Nigeria Model PPP Agreement under review today represents a significant step toward standardizing our contractual expectations, balancing investor security with public interest, and establishing a clear, legally sound blueprint that prevents costly contractual failures before they can begin.”

She emphasised the critical role of Ministry of Justice in protecting government interests in long-term infrastructure contracts through rigorous legal due diligence, risk assessment and dispute resolution mechanisms.

According to her, the ministry has significantly strengthened its institutional capacity in infrastructure law, project finance, and commercial risk analysis to ensure PPP agreements are thoroughly scrutinised without creating unnecessary bureaucratic delays.

She urged stakeholders to actively contribute to the review process to ensure the framework remained practical, robust, and responsive to Nigeria’s development realities.

Jedy-Agba added that the country must remain focused on building partnerships founded on trust, transparency, and accountability in order to attract investment and accelerate sustainable infrastructure development.