Nigeria’s Resources ‘Insufficient’ To Bridge Infrastructural Gap – Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stated that Nigeria’s current resources are “insufficient” to bridge the infrastructural gap.

Osinbajo said this at a two-day retreat of the National Council on Privatisation, according to his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.

The VP said, in a statement titled, How to access local, global funds to develop Nigeria’s infrastructure, by Osinbajo’, that Nigeria needs nothing less than $2.3 trillion over the next 30 years to “bridge this gap”.

He was quoted to have said, “Nigeria will require at least $2.3 trillion over the next 30 years to bridge this gap.

“The review of budgetary allocation for capital expenditure even over the past decade will show that government resources are completely insufficient for this purpose.

“There is a large pool of investable funds from both local and international investors for the development and maintenance of infrastructure.

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“But these are only accessible where there is a business case to be made for developing public infrastructure.

“So, for both institutional and individual investors, there is far more comfort with lending or with equity participation where a private sector entity partners with a public authority owner of the infrastructure.

“This way the public partner can play its natural role of a regulator (regulation and policy), leaving business to the private sector whose reason for being is business. So, for investors, PPP presents the best of both worlds.”