James Emejo in Abuja
The Director General/Chief Executive, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Chidi Izuwah yesterday said arrangements had been finalised to hold the joint Nigeria PPP Network (NPPPN) and PPP Units Consultative Forum (3PUCF) to select bankable PPP projects across the country for funding intervention.
He said the event scheduled for Thursday in Abuja, with the theme: “Accelerating Bankable PPP Project Development in Nigeria- The Afreximbank Project Preparation Facility (APPPF) Meeting”, seeks to support the supply of investment ready projects, thereby bridging the infrastructure deficit in the continent.
Izuwah, said high profile participants including state governors, decision-makers across ministries, departments and agencies of government, members of the National Assembly as well as stakeholders in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) ecosystem were expected at the gathering.
Speaking at a media briefing on the forthcoming meeting, sponsored by Afreximbank and PAC Capital, he said the outcome of the dialogue session would greatly enrich the understanding of the concept of and approach to PPP in terms of policies, guidelines and operation in the delivery of infrastructure to Nigerians.
According to him, the event seeks to help identify and improve the bankability of selected projects in the country, with a view to accessing project preparation funds from the Afreximbank.
He further explained that the idea of a joint forum of strategic enablers within the PPP ecosystem was to strengthen synergy among key policy drivers across the PPP spectrum in the country with a view to addressing common challenges.
He said this would also become helpful catalyst for growth in the use of PPP as a preferred procurement option across the states of the federation in line with a key aspect of the ICRC mandate to provide support and guidance for PPP initiatives undertaken by states as enshrined in the ICRC Establishment Act.
Also speaking at the briefing, Executive Director, Strategy and Research, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr. Lateef Shittu, expressed support for the meeting, adding that the bottom line is developing a bankable project so as to attract investors and financiers adding that this could be achieved through robust knowledge development as well as capacity to implement it.
He said the governors’ forum was happy to partner the ICRC towards building adequate capacity of states, adding that it would continue to drive the campaign until all the states of the federation identity with the PPP initiative as solution for infrastructure development.
He said in an era whereby states can barely meet their financial obligations amidst dwindling revenues, they needed to be creative through the utilisation of PPPs model for build, operate and transfer mechanism to improve on infrastructure.
