Cross section of participants at the Forum

The fourth quarter (Q4) 2015, 3PUCF held on Thursday 03 December 2015 at the Federal Ministry of Works (FMoW) conference room. The forum had in attendance, representatives of various Public Private Partnership Units across several Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as some private sector operators. The meeting started with a welcome remark by Engr. A.G Magaji, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works. In his address to participants, he commended the innovation buy the ICRC Management is putting the forum together and for assembling seasoned professionals on a regular basis to chart a way forward for PPP in Nigeria. He pledged his continued support to the ideals of the forum.

In his address which was read by the Head, Special Projects, ICRC, Mr. Emmanuel Onwodi, the Director General of the ICRC, Mr. Aminu Diko traced the basis for the creation of ICRC to the realization that government alone could not provide what is required to bring about  rapid industrialization and transformation. According to him, “Nigeria is now in a situation where it obviously has to diversify its economy to step up its industrial production capacity and offer profitable services to the rest of the world,” While calling for more concerted effort to ensure that the PPP concept succeeds in Nigeria, he stated thus:  “We also have a huge infrastructure deficit for which we require foreign capital and expertise to supplement whatever resources we can marshal at home”.

Speaking on the topic: PPP International Best Practice Lessons for Nigeria, Mr. Wale Shonibare, Managing Director, United Capital, compared the UK experience with that of Nigeria and stressed that PPP contracts must not only be fair but also properly structured, with risks allocated to the parties best suited to handle them to avoid crisis situations. He identified six prerequisites for successful PPPs to include Project Preparation, Sanctity of Contracts, Realistic Projects, Fair Regulation Deep Capital Market and Experienced Private Sector.

Also speaking, Mr. Eluma Obibiaku, Vice President, Investment, International Finance Corporation (IFC), who spoke on the topic: Bankability of PPP Projects, A Financier’s Perspective, disclosed that the Nigeria’s current infrastructure requirement is put at 2.24 trillion naira while the current spend is put at about 960 billion. According to him, the AFC provides loans and advice in various sectors of the economy including the provision of acquisition financing for some power projects in the country. The Public-Private Partnership Units Coordinating Forum (3PUCF) is a knowledge and experience sharing platform for Heads of PPP Units in federal agencies. The next meeting comes on 03 March, 2016.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/nigeria-needs-foreign-capital-to-bridge-infrastructure-gap-says-icpc-chief/

http://nigerianpilot.com/nigeria-needs-foreign-capital-to-bridge-infrastructure-gap-icrc/