$2.3trn Needed To Resolve Infrastructure Challenges -FG

The Federal Government says the sum of $2.3trn is required to modernise Nigeria’s infrastructure over the next 21 years.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this while speaking at the Integrated Infrastructural Research for Development conference held in Abuja, Friday.
According to her, the revised National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan was meant to fund key sectors in the economy such as power, rail, roads, housing and agriculture from 2022 to 2043.
“In the national development plan, we have cost the investment that is required; $2.3trn with a private sector contribution of 86 per cent anticipated between 2021 to 2025.
“These are downturn investment targets, but they represent the baseline requirements to build a modern Nigeria, an industrialised nation that we deserve for ourselves and also for our future generation”, she said.
Speaking further, Ahmed noted that extensive consultation with the private sector had created an innovative approach to financing infrastructure projects.
Citing an example, she said the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme launched in 2019 leveraged private sector expertise to construct repair and maintain critical federal roads.
“We started the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme launched in 2019 to leverage private sector capital via tax credits, and provide private sector expertise to construct, repair and maintain critical road infrastructure in key economic growth corridors and industrial clusters in Nigeria.
“With this project, the road projects have been approved and are at various stages of construction to the use of tax credit to finance the rehabilitation and reconstruction of road projects across six geopolitical zones of our country”, she said.