FG to screen all infrastructure projects for PPP compliance

28 May FG to screen all infrastructure projects for PPP compliance

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said that in the 2021/2022 budget cycle, all infrastructure projects in Nigeria must be screened for Public Private Partnership suitability and compliance with the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan before their inclusion

in the national budget and for subsequent procurement.

She spoke at a webinar organized by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on financing PPP on Thursday.

Ahmed, who is also the vice-chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), said the directive would ensure that PPP takes a centre stage in the procurement of infrastructure in the Nigeria.

“The government is ready and willing to dialogue and incorporate valuable suggestions from stakeholders with a view to further strengthening Nigeria’s PPP framework”, she said.

She noted that the webinar was an opportunity to hear directly from stakeholders their concerns and areas they would like the government to address to make investment beneficial and deliver value for money to the country at large.

The Director-General of BPE, Mr. Alex Okoh, said in line with the new role in the administration of the concession programme of the Federal Government, the Bureau, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, has developed a PPP project information tool which had been forwarded to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to capture all current and proposed infrastructure projects in the country.

He also said that the agency is looking at various strategies at reforming TCN.

“That’s the only segment of the power value chain yet to be reform by BPE. We have privatised or reform generation and the PHCN legacy on generation companies and downstream privatisation.

“These are the models we are looking at, in strong collaboration with the minister of power. The next stage is the unbundling of the system itself…on whether to unbundle along regional lines or business disco franchise area.

“Very soon, we will approach the council on privatisation on what best works.”