Connect with us

Economy

Nigeria Needs $3 Trillion Infrastructure Investment in the Next 30 Years – Finance Minister

Published

on

Share


By Tony Obiechina, Abuja


The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed said on Monday that  the Nigeria’s aspiration and infrastructure target for 30 years (2014-2043) is aimed at increasing the current infrastructure stock from 30% of the GDP to at least 70% by the year 2043.


Speaking at the One-Day Workshop on Maximizing Finance for Development (MFD) of Infrastructure in Nigeria organised by the World Bank Group in Abuja the minister stated: “It is estimated that $3 trillion infrastructure investment would be needed for the next 30 years, and provides the framework that will guide interventions, investments, as well as budgetary allocations to the sector for the period.

“Nigeria requires an estimated sum of $3 trillion to bridge its infrastructure gap over a 30-year period. This amount to roughly $100 billion per year, with a total federal budget of less than $30 billion for 2019 and the dependency of Nigeria’s income on oil revenue with unpredictable global price fluctuation, Nigeria no doubt, lacks the fiscal space to self-finance the required infrastructure investment”, she added.
Ahmed pointed out that despite all the comparative advantages in natural and human resources, Nigeria’s ability to fully actualise its economic growth potential is repressed by the country’s huge infrastructure gap.
Recalled that it was in an effort to address the  issue that the Nigeria’s National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) was approved in 2014 as a policy document which was designed to provide the roadmap for building a world class infrastructure that would guarantee sustainable economic growth and development.
Giving an overview of Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, the Minister said that the Nigeria core infrastructure stock is currently estimated at 30% of the GDP which falls far short of the international benchmark of 70%.
According to her the effect of weak infrastructure, “is most striking in the energy and transportation sector. The two sectors, according to her, are key to national and economic development due to their multiplier effect across all sectors of the economy”.
In her words: “Nigeria has an average electricity consumption per inhabitant of 150kwh (kilowatt/hour) as against over 3000kwh world average (WBG). The current power generation of less than 10GW (Gigawatt) is less than half of the projected 20GW of generation capacity by 2018 which is expected to be increased to 350GW by 2043. To achieve this target, an excess of 10GW of generation capacity is expected to be added every year for the 30 years’ period of NIIMP (2014-2043)”. 
Ahmed noted that the Nigerian transportation sector dominated by the road network as the pillar of economic development in the country, adding that, in terms of road network, Nigeria is ahead of the West African average, but behind the international and the Britain, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) benchmarks.
 “Looking at the individual sectors the largest investment needs are in energy and transport, which represent more than 50% of the required infrastructure investment”, she said further.
Considering the financing plan with the infrastructure gap in mind, the Minister stated that the investment is planned to be financed through both public and private sector participation. 
“The private sector is expected to cater for about 48% of the investments which will account for assets that are fully owned and financed by the private sector itself. The remaining 52% of the required investment is expected to be financed from a combination of public and private sector for the first phase of the implementation. 
“The private sector is expected to play a key role in providing critical infrastructure, either directly through privatization or in collaboration with the Government under public private partnership (PPP) arrangements,” she said.
According to her, there are four primary financing options namely, Governments budgets; public debt; other public sources (e.g. Sovereign Wealth Fund, Public Pension Fund); and PPPs, available for financing the investments. 
In addition to already committed private sector investments, she said government is strategically considering how much, on project-by-project basis, to leverage from the primary financing options to ensure optimal risk allocation. 
The minister who commended the effort of the World Bank Group for the timely intervention on infrastructure development, said the Federal Government has created an Infrastructure Project Development Facility to finance early project development activities so as to create a pipeline of bankable PPP projects, establish a dedicated cash backed fund (Government Resource Fund) outside the annul budgetary allocation process to finance the government’s contributions on infrastructure involving the private sector. 

Economy

Selloffs in Banking Stocks Dip Market Capitalisation by N68bn

Published

on

Share

The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation declined further on Wednesday by 0.12 per cent or N68 billion, following selloffs in Tier-one banking stocks.

The market capitalisation, which opened at N56.898 trillion, closed at N56.830 trillion.

The All-Share Index also shed 0.

12 per cent or 121 points to settle at 100,365.
17, compared to 100,486.12 recorded on Tuesday.

Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return declined to 34.

23 per cent.

Sell pressure in FBN Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), United Bank of Africa (UBA), Access Corporation, Fidelity, among other declined equities, were the main drivers of the negative performance.

Meanwhile, the market breadth closed negative with 21 losers and 18 gainers on the floor of the Exchange.

Secure Electronic Technology Plc led the losers’ chart by 9.43 per cent to close at 48k, RT Briscoe followed by 8.22 per cent to close at 67k per share.

UBA lost 5.07 per cent to close at N21.22, Livestock shed 4.56 per cent to close N2.30, United Capital dropped 4.27 per cent to close at N37 per share.

On the other hand, International Breweries and Sovereign Trust Insurance led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each to close at N4.07 and 55k per share respectively.

Deap Capital Management and Trust Plc gained 9.80 per cent to close at 56k, The Initiative Plc rose by 7.50 per cent to close at N2.15.

FCMB appreciated by 5.26 per cent to close at eight Naira per share.

On market activities, trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 137.35 per cent.

A total of 497.84 million shares valued at N8.61 billion were exchanged in 8,412 deals, against, 280.92 million shares valued at N3.63 billion  exchanged in 8,403 deals posted in the previous session.

First City Monument Bank(FCMB) led the activity chart in volume with 133.92 million shares valued at N1.4 billion, Access Corporation followed by 72.82 million shares worth N1.41 billion.

Zenith Bank sold 60.06 million shares worth N2.19 billion to lead the chart in value, UBA transacted 29.08 million shares valued at N639.55 million and Universal Insurance traded 22.92 million shares worth N7.68 million. (NAN)

Continue Reading

Economy

Bankable Projects will Empower Youth, Women in Agriculture – Speaker

Published

on

Share

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, says Nigeria can empower youth and women in Agriculture with the development and implementation of bankable business proposals.

Abbas said this at the Second Interactive Session and Workshop on Developing Bankable Business Proposals/Business Plans for Youths and women in Agriculture on Monday in Abuja.

The Speaker, who was represented by his Deputy, Rep.

Benjamin Kalu, said youth and women are the most vital demographics in the society.

The event was organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.

While acknowledging the bank and its partners for their contribution and interventions in the sector, Abbas said the need to diversify Nigeria’s economy could not be over emphasised.

According to him, our over-reliance on oil as primary resource has become neither sustainable nor profitable as the global community shifts towards greener, more sustainable energy sources.

“This reality makes it not just necessary, but urgent for us to explore and invest in alternative sectors.

“By focusing on developing and implementation of bankable business proposals, we can empower our youth and our women, to become key players in these sectors.

“Their active participation is not only essential for economic diversification, but also for ensuring food security and sustainable development through agriculture and technological advancements through high safety,” he said.

Abbas recognised AfDB’s hi-5 priorities to empower, feed, industrialise, integrate and improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

He expressed the commitment of the legislators to support youth and women development through various projects and programmes.

He urged for more collaboration of the AfDB and other stakeholders to advance initiatives that could drive significant progress in the country and across the continent.

“Through this, we will certainly build a better, more resilient future for Nigeria and for the world,” he said.

Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, said any workable concept on youth and women in agriculture would contribute to sustainable agricultural development across the continent.

Kyari said the country was committed to work closely with bilateral and multilateral development partners, in advancing the engagement of youth and women in agriculture.

“Notably, agriculture remains the singular sector with the highest potential for mass job creation.
Youth participation will further bridge the gap for aging farm population.

“It will take development back to the rural communities, cause a significant improvement in production and overall productivity and offer a veritable platform to accentuate the poverty reduction drive of government,” he said.

Kyari said President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for Food Security was poised to change the narrative of agriculture of a way of life.

“And agriculture as a wealth creating sector with sustainable, marketable, and bankable business prospects for youth and women engagement.’’

Similarly, the Minister of Youth Development, Dr Jamila Ibrahim, said it was crucial to build capacity of youth and women to see agricultural beyond subsistent but as an enterprise.

Ibrahim expressed the commitment of the ministry to work with stakeholders to co-create initiatives to support women and youth.

“We are open to working with partners to strengthen what we are doing. By doing so, we will build a brighter future for Nigeria,” she said.

For the Minister of Communications, innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, innovation is key to solve most challenges we face in Nigeria and the continent.

Tijani said that this innovation could not be done without including the young people including women, thus the need to invest in them.

Also speaking the Director-General, West Africa Region of AfDB, Mr Lamin Barrow, said the event was part of activities to celebrate the bank’s 60 years anniversary.

According to the director-general, Africa’s progress will be driven by young dynamic workforce, thus the importance to boost investment in them.(NAN)

Continue Reading

Economy

SEC Approves Commencement of Access Holdings N351bn Rights Issue 

Published

on

Share

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the commencement of the N351 billion rights issue capital raising programme of Access Holdings Plc.

A statement made available by the Holdings to newsmen on Sunday in Lagos confirmed this.

The group said that the approval marked a significant milestone in its previously announced capital raising programme, which aimed to generate up to $1.

5 billion.

It also said that the rights issue was strategically structured to boost Access Holdings’ financial position and support ongoing working capital needs.

According to the holdings, the programme will also provide funding for organic growth across its banking and non-banking subsidiaries.

“The approved rights issue offers 17,772,612,811 ordinary shares of N0.50 each at a price of N19.75 per share.

“The offer will be issued on the basis of one new ordinary share for every two existing ordinary shares held as of June 7, 2024,” it said.

The lead issuing house for Access Holdings’ rights issue is Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Ltd., while Atlas Registrars Ltd. will serve as the Registrars to the offer.

The offer will open on July 8 and close on Aug. 14.

It noted that the rights circular would be distributed to shareholders by Atlas Registrars Ltd., and application forms would also be available on its various websites.

The holding company advised its shareholders to contact their stockbrokers for more details about the offer.

Access Holdings said that it remained committed to its strategic vision of expanding its footprint and delivering exceptional value to all its stakeholders.

It noted that the successful execution of the rights Issue would further solidify the group’s position as a leading financial services provider in Africa and beyond.(NAN)

Continue Reading

Read Our ePaper

Top Stories

NEWS4 hours ago

Tinubu Approves Management Unit for Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative

SharePresident Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of the Sector-wide Coordinating Office-Programme Management Unit (SCO-PMU) domiciled in the Office of...

Education10 hours ago

FG Denies Slash in Students’ Allowances

Share The Federal Government says it has no plan to slash scholarship students’ allowances as recently projected in the media.The...

NEWS14 hours ago

Planned Protests: CAN calls for calm and patience

ShareBy Laide Akinboade, Abuja The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, on Friday, has urged Nigerians to calm and patient with...

NEWS15 hours ago

Senate  Consultant Scores Benue LG Bureau High on Projects Execution

ShareThe Consultant for Senate Standing Committee on States and Local Government Administration, Engineer Kayode Adegbayo has described the quality of...

FEATURES16 hours ago

Doctor Mark Ogbodo: A Man Destined for Success

ShareBy Paul Ugah Henry Miller once said, “Every man has his own destiny, the only imperative is to follow it,...

POLITICS18 hours ago

Ignore Anti -government Protests, Wike Begs Abuja Residents

ShareBy Laide Akinboade, Abuja Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike has called on residents of the...

POLITICS18 hours ago

Reps Commit to Ensure Legislations for Better Skills Acquisition, Management

ShareBy Ubong Ukpong, Abuja The House of Representatives on Thursday pledged its continuous commitment to ensure legislations that would align...

POLITICS18 hours ago

Economic Sabotage: Senate Summons Petroleum Minister, NNPCl, CBN, NPA, Others for Interrogation

ShareBy Eze Okechukwu, Abuja The Senate is blowing hot over alleged economic sabotage by stakeholders within the petroleum sector, thus...

NEWS18 hours ago

Dialogue with Organisers of August 1 Protest, AANI Urges FG

ShareBy Johnson Eyiangho, Abuja The Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) has advised the Federal Government to dialogue with...

NEWS18 hours ago

Stigmatization: CSO Urges Kogi Gov to Assent Bill Protecting HIV Patients

ShareFrom Joseph Amedu, Lokoja Civil Society Organisation, Initiative for Grassroot Advancement in Nigeria (INGRA), has called on the Kogi State...

Copyright © 2021 Daily Asset Limited | Powered by ObajeSoft Inc