Mr Chidi Izuwah, the Director-General of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), says Nigeria needs massive supply of private capital to be able to develop its infrastructure.
Izuwah said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a news conference on the forthcoming Joint Public Private Partnership (PPP) Consultative Forum and Nigeria PPP Network.
The PPP Consultative Forum and Nigeria PPP Network which will be sponsored by Afreximbank is scheduled to hold on Thursday.
He explained that the country currently had 69 active PPP projects but stressed that there was a need to have more because the deficit was still huge.
Izuwah said all Nigerian port terminals and Garki Hospital in Abuja were under PPP arrangement.
According to him, ICRC is doing its best to accelerate PPP projects to touch the critical sector of the economy.
He disclosed that Ibom Deep Seaport was on the last point of negotiation as the preferred bidder had been identified.
“Apart from Ibom Seaport, we also have Bakassi Seaport and Warri Deep Seaport which PPP arrangement was done through ICRC.
“Rail line that goes from Itakpe to Warri and then to Abuja is also a PPP project which has been approved by ICRC.
“University of Port-Harcourt has a world-class shopping complex built on PPP basis, if you see it, you won’t believe that you are in a campus, you will think you are in Dubai.
“There are a lot of massive projects that the Federal Government is doing with the PPP space,” he explained.
Izuwah emphasised the need to create unified factor and synergy between the states and the Federal Government considering that most foreign investors who wanted to invest in the country only knew Nigeria.
The director-general disclosed that the upcoming event which would have some renowned foreign investors from South Africa, would be jointly organised by ICRC, Nigerian Governors’’ Forum (NGF) and the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
The Executive Director of NGF, Alhaji Abdulatif Shittu, pledged that the forum would ensure all the states embrace PPP arrangement.
Shittu said already 20 states had established PPP with offices created to enable them to work independently.
