Nigeria requires $125bn to build infrastructure - Minister

The Federal Government will have to spend at least $125bn within
thenext five years under the Interim National Integrated
Infrastructure Master Plan to transform the country's abysmally poor
infrastructure.
The Minister of National Planning and Deputy Chairman, National
Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, who delivered a lecture at
the 41st Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers' Association of
Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday, said the government must spent at least
$25bn annually for the next five years in order to achieve accelerated
and integrated infrastructure development in the country.
He said the Federal Executive Council approved the framework for the
development of the NIIMP (2014 -2043) on November 21, 2012, adding
that the interim NIIMP was delivered on May 24, 2013 for a five-year
operational plan.
The final NIIMP, according to the minister, will be delivered on
August 14, 2013.
Usman said if the country adopted an accelerated model like China and
Vietnam, $25bn would be required per annum for the next five years,
adding that this would have faster socio-economic impact.
If the linear model is adopted like India and Qatar, according to him,
$95bn will be required per annum for the next five years.
In any case, the national planning minister said none of the models
could be solely financed through government budget, and pointed out
that strong private sector participation would be required to push it
through.
In view of this, he said the Federal Government was already marketing
the NIIMP to international investors with the hope of attracting more
Foreign Direct Investments into the nation's infrastructure sector.
Usman said, "Infrastructure is a key driver of economic growth and
development, and an enabler of competitiveness. The infrastructure
stock is, however, inadequate for the desired development, and this is
a constraint to socio-economic development in Nigeria. NIIMP will
address challenges in the infrastructure sector. But the fund required
cannot be solely funded through the budget; Public-PrivatePartnership
is required.