Nigeria: Finance Minister says $2.3 trillion needed to fix country’s infrastructure problem
The Nigerian minister of finance budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, has revealed that the department needs $2.3 trillion to fix the infrastructure problem in the country.
The minister made this announcement while addressing the attendants at the Integrated Infrastructural Research for Development conference, which was held in Abuja on Friday.
The proposed plan entails a 21-year rebuilding scheme that targets train tracks, roads, housing, and agriculture.
During the event the minister on the relevance of modernization and industrialization, noting that they are necessary for building the foundation of a better society for future generations.
“In the national development plan, we have cost the investment that is required; $2.3trn with a private sector contribution of 86% anticipated between 2021 to 2025. These are downturn investment targets, but they represent the baseline requirements to build a modern Nigeria, an industrialized nation that we deserve for ourselves and also for our future generation.”
Speaking further at the event, she noted that the consultation of the private sector is vital to the development of infrastructure in the country.
She stressed how necessary it is to create public-private partnerships in this regard. She also mentioned some of the success that has been had in the past, based on this notion.
“We started the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme launched in 2019 to leverage private sector capital via tax credits, and provide private sector expertise to construct, repair, and maintain critical road infrastructure in key economic growth corridors and industrial clusters in Nigeria.
“With this project, the road projects have been approved and are at various stages of construction to the use of tax credit to finance the rehabilitation and reconstruction of road projects across six geopolitical zones of our country,” She added.
“So far, we have issued four circles of SUKUK bonds totaling N64.5bn, and a fifth circle is under preparation that will be worth about N250bn. This is what we have issued so far and deployed for specific road projects across the country,” She concluded.
