The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and IFC are committing $25 million each to kick-start the partnership through the Renewables Investment Platform for Limitless Energy (RIPLE).

The aim of the partnership is to displace diesel, focus on franchising, and integrate backward for photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing.

Diesel displacement is the process of replacing traditional diesel fuel with alternative fuels or technologies that produce lower emissions while PV manufacturing refers to the production of PV devices, which convert sunlight into electricity.

Speaking with reporters after the agreement signing in Abuja over the weekend, NSA Managing Director, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, described the collaboration between NSIA and the IFC as a clear demonstration of NSIA’s dedication to sustainable energy transition in Nigeria.

According to him, as the custodian of economic resources for current and future generations of Nigerians, tackling climate risks is integral to NSIA’s objectives.

“We recognize the many opportunities it offers for innovation, growth, and economic transformation,” Umar-Sadiq said.

He explained that in order to raise the $500 million, the initial step involves coming up with smaller projects to showcase their potential to external investors.

The NSIA boss noted that the plan involves executing infrastructure projects over three to four years, demonstrating their capabilities to attract additional capital and scale up.

He added that the primary goal of the project is to bridge Nigeria’s power deficit through sustainable, renewable energy sources.

Umar-Sadiq said the NSIA aims at not only investing but also to co-sponsor and co-develop projects, providing impactful solutions beyond just financial backing.

He said: “The strategy involves creating a portfolio of projects to showcase success and mitigate risks, attracting further capital toward the $500 million goal.

“The NSIA and the IFC are starting with a 70-megawatt project in Tokarawa, Kano State. It involves setting up a generation and distribution system to meet 70mw of unsuppressed energy demands of industrial activities, commercial enterprises, and residential customers in an area covering about 9,000 connections. They also plan to announce additional projects soon.”

Regional Manager, Africa, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Dan Croft, said the project would be a game changer in the energy space, noting that the corporation has been searching for a solution like this for almost 20 years.

He said innovation and designing solutions that fill the existing gaps are key to transforming the industry.

Croft explained that IFC’s interest in the project is centered on access, efficiency, security, and sustainability.

He said the corporation is always looking to work with credible partners who are committed to long-term development on a fully sustainable basis, with the goal of delivering the most cost-effective and clean power.

According to him, IFC values “finding partners like this, although they are rare to come by”.

He said IFC is providing early stage development capital to seed the platform, with a focus on longer-term investment.

He said the corporation is not interested in just the upfront seed, and will only proceed if there is a long-term horizon.

He pointed out that the corporation is open-ended in terms of the financing it likes to provide, but struggles to find suitable opportunities, which is why it is excited about this project.

“Reliable electricity is crucial for improving quality of life, productivity, and economic growth in Nigeria. IFC is pleased to collaborate with the NSIA to develop and implement the first phase of this innovative energy solution which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuel. The energy solution will also deliver reliable power supply for commercial, residential as well as industrial use,” Croft said.

Programme Manager, RIPLE, Yusuf Umar, said the partnership with the IFC is to advance the transition to energy efficient solutions in Nigeria in collaboration with an institution that shares commitment to sustainable development.

According to him, the focus is to empower the customers with a resilient and environmentally friendly energy solution that will optimise productivity and reduce carbon footprint.

RIPLE is another milestone initiative by NSIA in the climate sustainability asset class, having previously lunched Carbon Vista with Vitol and the Construction Finance Warehouse Facility.

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The Managing Director, NSIA, Uche Orji, made this known on Monday in Abuja while addressing the newsmen on the financial performance of the agency in 2018.

The presentation made by Orji showed that the profit of the authority had more than doubled when compared with the N22.55 billion recorded in 2017 financial year.

Orji said: “Despite concerns over international trade flows, slow growth in key economic indicators and increased volatility across financial market, the Authority’s investment strategy proved robust.

“Total comprehensive income, including the impact of foreign exchange gains, was N44.34 billion which shows an increase from the N27.93 billion recorded in 2017.

“Also, total assets recorded a growth of 16 per cent to N617.7 billion at year end, showing an increase when compared to the N533.88 billion of 2017.

“The return on capital employed on the core funds of the NSIA is as follows; Stabilisation Fund, 7.2 per cent, Future Generation Fund, 8.3 per cent and Nigeria Infrastructure Fund, 7.7 per cent,” he said.

Giving a review of the Authority’s activities, Orji said the NSIA was helping to reduce input-induced food price inflation through the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI).

He said that under the PFI in 2018, an additional 5.5 million bags of NPK 20:10:10 fertiliser was produced and sold in Nigeria bringing the total project output from inception to date at over 12 million bags.

In addition, Orji said that the NSIA disbursed $650 million for infrastructure construction projects under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF)

Some of the projects include the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge; and the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road.

Orji said that till date, the NSIA had disbursed N77.6 billion under the PIDF programme.

He said other projects being undertaken under PIDF included Mambilla Hydro-Power Project and East-West Road.

The NSIA boss also described as successful, the NSIA investment in the health sector, which had led to the establishment of a world class cancer center at Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

He said that the Cancer Centres at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and Federal Medical Centre Umuahia would be commissioned in second quarter, 2019.

Orji said that going forward, the Authority would increase its focus on domestic infrastructure projects, especially in agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure enabling financial institutions.

“The deployment of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund will play a key part of our infrastructure investment strategy for the year.

“Healthcare remains a focus area going forward with the implementation of next phase of diagnostic and treatment centres.

“The Board has also approved Gas industralisation as an area of focus. Increased focus and capital deployment in Infrastructure is likely to affect future returns,” he said.

The NSIA boss also used the opportunity to clarify allegations on the illegal employment of Aisha Abba Kyari, who is the daughter of President Buhari’s Chief of Staff as an Assistant Vice-President at the Authority.

Orji said Aisha’s selection for the post was based on her academic qualifications, international and local work experiences.

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Speaking on Wednesday at the inauguration of the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative, Ahmed said the federal executive council will take a request to the national assembly for an amendment of the VAT law.

“We are studying a possibility of a VAT increase but you also know that the increase of VAT requires an amendment of the law,” he said.

“It is most likely the VAT increase will be selective. It will be on special items so it won’t be across the board. I am sure you are already aware that there are a number of items that are exempted from VAT such as food and drugs.

“There would be a VAT increase during the course of 2019, we will announce later the items and what the rate will be. We will have to take a request to the National Assembly for amendment of the VAT law before it takes effect.”

Representatives of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Accountant-General of the Federation and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority were present at the launch.

Also present, were representatives of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

Babatunde Fowler, FIRS chairman, said the service plans to collaborate with banks to get names of companies and individuals with funds in excess of N1 billion and ensure that appropriate tax was collected.

According to him, the service will also link up with the Nigeria Customs to get data on companies that import goods into the country to ensure that they pay their fair share of tax.

In addition, he said that henceforth, the FIRS would ensure that it collects tax on properties owned by corporate entities in the country.

On his part, Hammed Ali, comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service, said that the Service would focus on reducing smuggling and illicit financial flow of goods.

According to him, the Service will like to introduce new excise duties, but at the moment, the country only collects excise duty on alcohol and cigarettes.

He said the Service would also like to look carbonated drinks since they also have health implications for consumers.

Ahmed Idris, the accountant-general of the federation (AGF), said his office would like to introduce the use of treasury single account to all existing Nigerian embassies to enhance revenue.

As a way of blocking leakages, the AGF said his office would also link revenue generating agencies to the government integrated financial management information system (GIFMIS).

He said that GIFMIS implementation would enable the federal government process financial transactions faster and also reduce opportunities for corruption.

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Adeosun gave the indication while briefing state House correspondents on the deliberations at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The minister said that the council was briefed on the FAAC debacle where states resolved to wait until the poor remittance made into the federation account by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation was reconciled before they would receive their allocations.

“We operate NNPC as a business, we have invested public capital in that business and we have an expectation of a return. and when that return falls lower than our expectations then the owners of the business, which in this case is the federal government and the states needs to act.

“So that is really what caused the deadlock yesterday (June 27). We really felt that the figures that the NNPC was proposing for FAAC was unacceptable; we felt that some of the costs could not be justified.

“And so we have decided rather than approve the accounts we would go back and do further work. Further negotiation and interaction is going on with NNPC as we speak.

“However, we did brief both Mr President and the Vice President on the deadlock and asked for their support and their forbearance because the consequence of this is that salaries might be well delayed in many states as a result of this.

“But we feel that in order to get to the accurate figures that we need we have asked for forbearance and the governors and indeed the federal government are all in agreement that we need to get to the bottom of those figures.’’

The minister added that now that the price of oil is around 76 dollars in the spot market and Bonny light selling for about 78 dollars the government wanted to be putting money away in the Excess Crude Account.

The minister stated that FAAC members were very conscious of the fact that “this period of relatively high oil price might not last we would like to be able to save.

“If we cannot get into the federation account the sorts of revenues we are expecting then we will not be able to save.

“So it was a very important point really underscored by all the governors and they really want action to be taken.

“And they are fully in support of the position of the ministry of finance and the commissioners of finance not to approve those accounts until we get further explanations on some of the costs that are being presented.’’

Adeosun also said that the balance in the ECA added an additional credit of $80.6 million in May amounting to $1.92 billion as at June 26, stabilization account balance was N18.89 billion, while the Natural Resources Development Fund had N 133. 72 billion.

She said that NEC also appointed a Committee of four Governors comprising Kaduna, Kogi, Ebonyi and Lagos to review the administration and operation of the Stabilization Fund Account.

Also Delta Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa announced the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) its account for the year ended 2016 and update in its 2017 activities.

According to him NSIA reported 5th straight year of profitability in all its funds with core profits (excluding foreign transaction gains) of N26.28 billion ($88 million) for the year.

“NSIA also reported that total assets under management was about $1.25 billion for the most part of the year, as the additional contribution of $250 million was not received until the third quarter of 2017.

“It also reported that the return on asset was up to 6.60% in dollar terms,’’ Okowa stated adding that NSIA was shifting focus to infrastructure and direct investments in Nigeria.

On the 2017 activities he said that the NSIA implemented the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) in 2017 and began the construction of first three healthcare projects in Lagos, Kano and Umuahia respectively.

He said that the agency also continued work on Second Niger Bridge Projects, invested in and own 13% of Bridge International Academics Ltd – a network of Schools which delivers affordable high-quality Primary education to lower-income families.

He said that NSIA also invested in Babbar-Gona, an agricultural franchise that empowers smallholder farmers.

Okowa hinted that in 2018 NSIA would focus on executing infrastructure investments strategy in its core focus areas of Power, Toll Roads, Agriculture and Healthcare etc., and exploring opportunities in other sectors of investment such as refining, transport infrastructure and industrial real estate.

He stated that NEC resolved that account of NSIA be approved.

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The Beacon of Information and Communication Technology awards series, is widely regarded as the most prestigious annual event available in the ICT industry in Nigeria.

The awards ceremony reward best practices and recognize outstanding contributions to the growth of the sector, according to ken Nwogbo, Chief Executive Officer and Editor in-Chief, CommunicationsWeek Media Limited, and the organisers of the event.

The BoICT Awards winners emerge through a transparent voting process that involves business leaders and readers, with independent quality experts.

Business leaders and readers can cast their votes via http://boict.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng

Nwogbo announced theme for this year’s lecture as: “Leveraging ICT Value for Building Institutions”.

Now in its ninth year, the award is the highlight of the daylong event which starts with the distinguished lecture series.

The lecture and award are slated for Saturday, April 28, 2018, at the prestigious Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

The Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture is designed to explore efforts to put Nigeria on the global Information and Communications Technologies map.

The lecture series is reserved for distinguished achievers.

Past Keynote lecturers include: Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then EVC, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, former Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Dr. Jean Luc Fort, CEO at OR System France and a specialist in Counterparty Risk; and Professor Chris Nwagboso, Chairman, Knowledge Factory International, United Kingdom.

Others are: Uche Orji, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; and Peter Arogundade, Managing Director, Sidmach Technologies.

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Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Mallam Garba Shehu disclosed this at the weekend on Hannu Ya Dawa, an audience participation programme on FRCN Kaduna.

Also, the presidential aide said the 11 fertilizer blending plants in the country will be increased to 18 by the end of the year; which will, in turn, provide direct employment to no fewer than 50,000 Nigerians.

Shehu said the projected delivery of the commodity (4 million bags of fertilizer) by December is in addition to the six million bags of 50kg fertilizers already sold to farmers since the initiative commenced early this year.

“The problem of the shortage of fertilizers and its attendant high cost plaguing the nation’s agricultural production, seemingly intractable for decades, have been resolved following the successful execution of the mandate of the PFI.

“Since the implementation of the Initiative, the six million 50kg bags of NPK fertilizers were purchased by State governments and agro-dealers across the country,” he said.

The presidential spokesman noted that the production of locally-blended fertilizer had saved the Federal Government about $150 million this year, hitherto spent on foreign exchange; and N60 billion in budgetary provisions for fertilizer subsidy.

He added that the successful implementation of the PFI had made fertilizer available to Nigerian farmers at affordable prices and in time for the 2017 wet season farming.

“Last year, Daily Trust newspaper reported that a bag of 50kg NPK fertilizer was sold at N10, 900 in Benue State. Today the same commodity is being sold at about N6, 500 in different locations across the country, while the government-approved price is N5, 500.”

Quoting the same newspaper report, Mallam Shehu noted that a bag of maize which was sold at N21, 000 last year is currently being sold at an average of N10, 000.

“This is an indication that the Initiative has enhanced food security as a result of the increase in food production. There is also a reduction in food-induced inflation while economic activities across the agriculture value chain are very impressive,” he said.

The objective of the PFI, which was approved by President Buhari in December 2016, is to procure the four constituent raw materials for Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) fertilizer – locally-sourced Urea, locally-sourced Limestone granules (LSG), Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) imported from Morocco, and Muriate of Potash (MOP) sourced from Europe – and blend these locally to produce NPK Fertilizer at a much-reduced cost.

The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative is being executed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) through a Special Purpose Vehicle that will roll out the one million tonnes of NPK Fertilizer in five[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form] batches of 200,000 metric tonnes each.

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Orji disclosed this in Abuja when the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, paid him a working visit.

“We are not allowed to pay dividends until after 5 years of consistent profitability.

“From next year, the federal, states and local government will be eligible for dividends from the contributions they made,’’ he said.

Orji said that NSIA was set up in 2012 as an agency, to build a saving base for the country, enhance development of the nation infrastructure and provide stabilization support in times of economic stress.

He said that the Federal Government owned 46 per cent contribution to the Fund while the states and local governments owned the balance of 54 per cent.

“The NSIA has three Funds – Stabilisation Fund which holds 20 per cent of the Agency’s asset – Future Generation Fund which holds 40 per cent of the asset and Infrastructure Fund which also holds 40 per cent of the asset.

“The stabilization fund and the future generation fund are mostly invested outside the country while the infrastructure fund is invested in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Orji said that with 31 staff strength – 26 core staff and 5 consultants – NSIA had increased to I.5 billion dollars under the management.

He disclosed that in 2016, the authority had a total comprehensive income of N149 billion, most of which were returns from investment.

Orji said that the investments of the Fund were well diversified.

Specifically, he said that the authorty’s Stabilisation Fund was to the tune of about 3OO million dollars from which the Federal Government could draw in times of urgent need.

Orji said that the strategy of the Infrastructure Fund was to attract investors in to the country.

“We have five areas of focus for Infrastructure Fund which are agriculture, health care, motor ways, power and commercial real estate.’’

On agriculture, the NSIA boss said the body had intervened in reviving moribund fertilizer blending companies across the country.

He said the authority was also in the process of reviving Commodity Exchange to attract people into farming.

Orji said that the NSIA was working with Lagos University Teaching Hospital to set up multi-speciality hospitals to treat cases of Cancer, Cadio and Renal diseases.

He said the hospitals would help to stop the billions of dollars being spent abroad on health by many Nigerians.

Orji said that the authority was also intervening in the construction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway as well as the Second Niger bridge.

The Minister commended the Authority for its intervention in the critical sector of the economy through the Infrastructure Fund.

He underscored the need for the NSIA to place priority attention on making public its activities to correct the erroneous impression that the Authority is only to access fund.

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The Initiative was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2016, to achieve the local production of one million metric tonnes of blended Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) Fertilizer for the 2017 wet season farming.

Prior to December 2016, Nigeria’s stock of blended Fertilizer was shipped into the country as fully-finished products, even though Urea and Limestone, which constitute roughly two-thirds of the component of each bag, are available locally.

The objective of the Presidential Initiative is to procure the 4 constituent raw materials for NPK Fertilizer – locally-sourced Urea, locally-sourced Limestone granules (LSG), Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) imported from Morocco, and Muriate of Potash (MOP) sourced from Europe – and blend these locally to produce NPK Fertilizer at a much reduced cost.

The finished products will be delivered to Nigeria’s farmers at a starting price of about ₦5,500 per bag, compared to the ₦8,000 – ₦9,000 cost of imported fertilizer.

The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative will through this stimulate local production of NPK Fertilizer by resuscitating moribund fertilizer plants, and reviving the local blending Fertilizer industry, make Fertilizer available to Nigerian farmers at affordable prices and in time for the 2017 wet season farming and result in projected savings of US$200 million in foreign exchange, and ₦60 billion in budgetary provisions for Fertilizer subsidy.

Besides, the initiative will enhance food security as a result of the expected increase in food production, reduce food-induced inflation and stimulation of economic activities across the agriculture value chain and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs,

The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative is being executed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) through a Special Purpose Vehicle that will roll out the one million tonnes of NPK Fertilizer in 5 batches of 200,000 metric tonnes each.

Production of the first batch is expected to be completed by the end of March.

Beyond the broader goal of ensuring food security for the country by providing high-grade fertilizer to enhance harvest in the 2017 farming season, the Buhari Administration is by this initiative reinforcing its commitment to reviving and diversifying the economy, and creating growth, through a focus on agriculture.

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The Managing Director, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Uche Orji, had last week claimed that the $1bn initial sovereign fund contributed by the government was intact and had generated N15.7bn profit last year.

But Oshiomhole, who spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House on Thursday night, said the claim was false.

He said he had evidence to debunk the claim that the fund was invested in projects that were already funded from other sources.

He said, “I reported to the media that the Sovereign Wealth Fund people, in their report to us, which I have in black and white, showed clearly that they have only $300m left in the account.

“We have it in black and white and I can publish it if anybody wants to deny that because it was not submitted to me secretly. It was submitted at a plenary of the committee.

“And then we asked, because I knew that the fund was $1bn, what was done with $700m and they said they have made some investments.”

Continuing, he said, “We asked them what they invested in and they said the second Niger Bridge and partially in the Kaduna-Abuja rail. That is what they said and I was not alone there.

“We were about five governors and it was a full plenary. But we know that the Kaduna-Abuja rail was funded with Chinese loan, which even Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spoke about, when they said the loan from China was not used for Lagos, she said it was for the Kaduna-Abuja rail.

“You media need to develop your own library and have your record so that when people speak from both sides of their mouths, you can replay back. Because sometimes it hurts me when political leaders and technocrats say one thing in the morning and they change the language the following day.”

The governor said he was not the issue, stressing that he was only standing by the truth.

“Don’t make me the issue, I’m not. The only difference is that there is beauty in standing by the truth and ultimately, it will set you free,” he stated.

Oshiomhole also said that professional international auditors were engaged to ensure confidence, and value-for-money in the ongoing forensic audit of all Federal Government revenue generating agencies in the country.

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Reasons ranging from the actual cost of the bridge, non- issuance of the Certificate of Compliance, non-compensation of the host community and non- adherence to due process in the award of the contract were also responsible for the stoppage.

The Director-General of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, Aminu Diko disclosed this after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Already, there is a raging controversy over the actual cost spent on the consultancy for the bridge, with the allegation by Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, that N140 billion was spent on the consultancy for the Second Niger Bridge.

The allegation which the Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, Uche Orji, has expressed shock over, stating that only $2.21 million (about N340 million, using the then exchange rate of N154/$1) was spent on the consultancy for that project.

Noting the importance of the road that linked the South East and South West, Diko, however, asked the people to be patient with the government.

“The Second Niger Bridge is one of the projects that we discussed with the President. We did say it is in the commission for regulatory oversight. We have been discussing the transaction with the Ministry of Works.

“But before it can be finalized, the commissioner has to give a Certificate of Compliance, but we have not even done that because we have seen a lot of issues that we are uncomfortable with. We are talking with the Ministry of Works for them to correct them.

“The communities around that area are clamouring that their lands have been taken and that they have not been compensated adequately. As a matter of fact, we got a letter from Onitsha Traditional Council complaining that they have not been adequately represented in this transaction.

“We are not saying that something has not been done properly, but we need to be convinced that these few problems are sorted properly.

“We will also talk about the actual cost of the bridge, eventually we have asked the ministry of works to review it and justify how much the project should cost. For the Second Niger Bridge, there will be a lot of studies that need to be done on the integrity of the bridge itself which will take time. It is not something we can see being completed in the next six months.

“I will like us to be patient about it. We know that it is a critical road. We also know how Nigerians suffer during festive holidays and we hear people sleep on that old bridge. The time has come for us to bring succour Nigerians.”

The DG said he was not in the know of the present status of the project, stating that “I have no idea about the status of the project. What I need to tell Nigerians is that PPPs take a long time to mature. There is a difference between the project which you have money in your pocket or in your account and you just bring it out and tell somebody to go and do it.

“But when it is PPP transaction, you first engage a number of people. You have bankers, lawyers, engineers. They all collaborate to form consultancy for that transaction,” he said.

According to the NSIA Managing Director, Uche Orji, the cost of consultancy for the Second Niger Bridge was less than one percent of the cost of the project which was way below global standards.

A document he made available to Vanguard, Wednesday, indicated that “the project was initially estimated to cost N108 billion excluding duties and VAT, (if duties and VAT are included, the project cost is N117.9billion). This was equivalent to $700 million at the then prevailing exchange rate of N154/$. The final project cost would naturally be affected by exchange rate fluctuations and other variables.

“Total consultancy services cost so far is less than one percent of the estimated project cost. Whilst there is no standardized benchmark for transaction costs, the European Investment Bank’s Economic and Financial Report No. 3 of 2005, indicates that, on the average, the level of transaction cost for the procurement phase of PPP projects is over 10 percent of the capital value of the relevant project in Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom,” Orji said.

The MD said that NSIA’s technical consultants on the project were instrumental in value engineering of the project and reducing the initial cost to the current level.

He said that NSIA had put in place a multi-stage approval process for all disbursements, under which all payments involving construction are made only after approval by a third-party engineering firm, which matches work completed against amounts due.

Orji said that the Federal government made a commitment of N30 billion out of which it had released N18.3billion so far of which N10.4billion had been disbursed on early construction works.

According to him, “the NSIA assembled a team of Nigerian and international advisers with proven capabilities and global experience in PPP infrastructure projects to ensure the project got first-class advisory services. These consultants were engaged through a rigorous and competitive procurement process.”

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