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The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission is planning to gazette 53 eligible and bankable public-private partnership projects, valued at $22bn, in 2022.
Acting Director-General/ Chief Executive Officer, ICRC, Micheal Ohiani, disclosed this during the Africa Public Private Partnership Network Investment Summit 2022 held in Abuja.
“As of May 2022, there are 77 post-contract PPP projects under implementation at the ICRC Projects Disclosure Portal (www.ppp.icrc.gov.ng or www.icrc.gov.ng). The portal is the first disclosure portal in the world, established in collaboration with the World Bank,” Ohiani said.
He further disclosed that the ICRC had issued 128 outline business case compliance certificates till date, noting that these were certified bankable projects and the certificates would enable them to proceed to the procurement phase.
“ICRC has also issued 50 Full Business Case Compliance Certificates to date. These are projects to be submitted to our Federal Executive Council (Cabinet) preparatory to their Commercial and Financial Closures,” he noted.
He said between 2010 (following the inauguration of our governing board) and 2021, under the regulatory guidance of the ICRC, the Nigerian government had approved PPP projects worth more than $9bn, noting that in 2021, the agency published a pipeline of 51 eligible and bankable PPP projects, valued at $17bn.
According to him, the list contained the projects from different economic sectors which has been granted the outline business case compliance certificates, but which did not have identified bidders.
He said with fiscal and budgetary funding constraints plaguing governments across the continent, the reality was that private participation in infrastructure was an economic necessity, rather than an optional financing solution.
“Partnership between the public and private sectors for the financing, design, build, maintenance of infrastructure and delivery of associated services are absolutely necessary for Africa governments to meet the need for modern and efficient infrastructure, and for reliable cost-effective delivery of public services,” he further said.
The ICRC was set up to superintend and regulate PPP efforts of the Federal Government with a view to addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit. On the APPPN is targeted at boosting PPP on the continent.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on his part, explained that given the constraints on the public budget for financing the ever-growing infrastructure needs and in keeping with the practice in other nations with similar situations, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) had encouraged and supported the strengthening of the framework for PPP policy.
