Nigeria Backbone Infrastructure Limited, a multinational company, has announced plans to invest $172 billion in the development of various infrastructure sectors across the country over the next 22 years.
Alternative financing options will finance the investment across multiple sectors, including mineral resources, energy, agriculture, housing, and transportation.
President Bola Tinubu’s administration has reiterated its dedication to attracting increased foreign direct investment and exploring alternative financing solutions to support the development of critical infrastructure projects.
In a recent update, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Doris Aniete, announced that the government has successfully secured $30 billion in investment commitments from international investors, demonstrating the administration’s commitment to driving economic growth and development.
The National Integrated Master Plan estimates that Nigeria will need $3 trillion in infrastructure funding over the next 30 years, despite having secured $30 billion in investment commitments.
To address this, Mr. Henry Owonka, Group Chief Executive Officer, announced that the company is seeking approval for a joint venture model with foreign partners to facilitate its planned $172 billion investment in the country’s infrastructure development.
Owonka emphasized that the company intends to align with the current administration’s infrastructure plan, highlighting that a consistent influx of investment, as proposed by the company, is preferable to isolated investments by other investors, especially in the mining sector.
He said: “The company expressed its interest in investing in a range of commodities. We are seeking approval for a joint venture model because, in that way, we can draw more investors not only in the country but also outside the country.
“Because when you have a joint venture with the government, it’s better, and that’s what we are seeking, rather than for them to just issue land to us.”
The CEO announced that the company intended to invest $4 billion in the mining sector to explore mineral resources.
“But we need data, and that is also one of the offers we proposed so that we can bring in our expertise and help the government obtain accurate data, and then we can explore those minerals.
“This partnership will help the government reduce its dependence on crude oil. We are also doing this across all the ministries because it’s a $172 billion investment drive.”
During a presentation at the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Chief Operations Officer Mr. Clement Kwegyir-Afful emphasized that the investment drive aims to bridge the significant infrastructure gap in Nigeria.
He said: “The current administration is looking for several investments to come in through the private sector to reduce the infrastructure gap. The NBIL has come together as a team to support the government in achieving this mandate without any sovereign guarantee.
“We want to help address the energy gap through the use of renewables, so one of our subsidiaries focuses on renewables and how we can address that. We are going to bring in innovative ways of funding through financial engineering to raise funds that would address the infrastructure gap.
“Minerals exploration is one area the government wants to use to create another source of revenue shifting from oil, and that is one strong area that we want to focus on. It will raise a different form of revenue.
“To do this will require a significant amount of money, so over the next 22 to 23 years, we are looking to invest $172bn billion. If you break this down yearly, that works out to $6bn every year in investment out of the numerous numbers the president is looking for.
“We have grouped our project into phases; the first one will be the ones that have the most impact on Nigeria’s landscape, so we are looking at hospitals, renewable energies, mineral exploration, and exportation because that is where we have huge concerns, and also some of the deep sea ports.”
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