Nigeria Being Repositioned As PPP Knowledge Base in Africa, Says ICRC
- The Nigerian government says it is repositioning the country as the Public Private Partnership knowledge base in Africa
- This was the stated by the Acting Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Michael Ohiani
- Ohiani said the ICRC had been supporting Nigerian states to adopt PPP models to boost their infrastructure development
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FCT, Abuja - The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says that it is working very assiduously to reposition Nigeria as the Public Private Partnership (PPP) knowledge base in Africa.
Acting Director-General of the commission, Michael Ohiani said this during the first meeting of the Nigerian Public Private Partnership Network, a forum that brings together all heads of PPP at the state level under the coordination of the ICRC and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).'
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A statement sent to Legit.ng by Manji Yarling, head of media and publicity at the ICRC, noted that the meeting which was the first in the series for 2022, had as its theme: ‘PPP in the Health Sector,” and featured commissioners of health from different Nigerian states.
It also provided a platform to share experiences and explore opportunities for scaling up PPP in healthcare across other states using NPPPN.
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Ohiani said that as the government agency tasked with the responsibility of regulating all PPPs to foster the nation’s infrastructural development, the ICRC had also been supporting Nigerian states to adopt PPP models to boost their infrastructure development.
He commended states that were already adopting PPP models, pledging the commission’s support to all other states to develop and operationalize bankable PPP projects.
His words:
“Since its establishment, ICRC has blazed the trail in establishing and institutionalizing the use of PPPs in Nigeria for our economic development.
“The commission has even gone beyond the Federal level to now partner with the states that require guidance and capacity on how to go about the PPP processes.
“ICRC facilitated a World Bank-sponsored APMG’s certified PPP practitioners course for 60 Nigerian government staff at Federal and State levels in addition to building PPP capacity. (APM Group International is a reputable global accreditation and examination institute).
“This year we will encourage global certification through the NII3P like the APMG Certified PPP Practitioner for our members until it becomes a routine process for use in Nigeria.
“With our population and the available market, we are setting our sight on being the PPP knowledge base in Africa.”
Giving a rundown of the commission’s achievement since its inception, Ohiani said that as at April 25, 2022, the commission had issued a total of 105 Outline Business Case Certificates, 48 Full Business Case Certificates as well as secured 51 PPP approvals by the Federal Executive Council.
Speaking earlier, the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, represented by the Executive Director, Strategy, Dr. Abdulateef Shittu, said the meeting was part of moves to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 economic downturn.
According to him, the meeting underscored the fact that access to essential health services was an important aspect of development.
ICRC: Onitsha River Port concession to connect Lagos to southeast, others
Meanwhile, the ICRC has said that the Onitsha River Port will serve as an alternative source of transporting goods to the southeast from Lagos state, Port Harcourt in Rivers state, and other areas with adequate water connectivity.
The ICRC noted that the 30-year concession, approved by the Federal Executive Council, under a Rehabilitate-Operate and Transfer arrangement, targets a revenue generation of N50 billion.
The approval followed a detailed process under the regulatory guidance of the ICRC which commenced in 2011 with support from the World Bank.
ICRC moves to re-energize six dry ports concessions in Nigeria
In a related development, the ICRC recently held a meeting with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in a bid to get the six Inland Container Depots (ICDs) located in each of the geo-political zones of Nigeria to become operational.
The meeting, which was at the instance of the ICRC, sought to find solutions to the factors hindering the completion of the dry ports whose contracts were signed in 2006.
Ohiani who declared the meeting open stressed that 16 years after the concession contracts were signed, some of the ICDs were still at 5% completion while only two had gotten to 55% and 68%, hence the need for the meeting.
Source: Legit.ng
