2 months ago
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The new Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Jobson Ewalefoh, has vowed to streamline Public-Private Partnership processes to accelerate infrastructure development, bridge the attendant gaps and stimulate economic growth.
He said that PPPs are vital for advancing development across all sectors and need strategic procedures and crucial steps to improve their delivery, considering Nigeria’s facility gaps.
He also promised that the Commission would, within the ambit of the law, resolve all encumbrances that hamper the execution of projects so long as such projects are bankable and viable, important to the Nigerian people and deliver value for money.
Ewalefoh said this at the weekend during a strategic retreat with stakeholders held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where he rolled out a six-point policy direction as the new helmsman of the ICRC.
A statement by the Acting Head of Media and Publicity, Ifeanyi Nwoko, stated that the DG listed the key points of his policy direction to include: innovative financing, service delivery optimisation, project categorisation, time-bound delivery of projects, inter-agency collaboration as well as strategic partnerships.
“With the gap that we have in Nigeria, we need PPPs in almost every area, and PPPs go beyond building infrastructure. Service is a very key component of Infrastructure building, and we are ready to resolve all encumbrances that hamper the execution of projects, so long as such projects are bankable and viable, important to the Nigerian people and deliver value for money.”
“Even if we don’t build infrastructure, if we optimise the existing ones, what we will get will be novel, and the impact we will create will be so huge. If we use PPP to optimise the general hospitals that we have, what it will give us will be phenomenal,” he said.
The retreat featured key resource persons, including Prof. George Nwangwu, Dr Niyi Onamusi, Rotimi Teteye and Dr. Itunu Akinware, among others.
Speaking further on his policy direction, Ewalefoh mentioned that financing development projects would be a primary focus for the commission, highlighting that innovative financing is central to Public-Private Partnerships.
Ewalefoh hinted that he was already in talks with potential investors who were interested in knowing how safe and profitable investments would be, as well as a possible timeline for delivering the projects.
Citing the Nigerian Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan, he said that the nation’s infrastructure was weak and required financing to revolutionise the economy, adding that it was in view of the need for finance that the Commission would focus on innovatively building financial infrastructure.
“I am going to be involved in strategic partnerships, I will work closely with Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executive Officers of Agencies. I am going to lead from the front on most of these partnerships and collaborations.
“When you lead from the front, you mobilise others to do the same. When I said I am leading from the front, it is because I want decision-making to be faster and to reduce the time required to deliver projects,” he said.
Ewalefoh also pledged to optimise the processes of the Commission to focus on service delivery, stressing that, “When we know what we want to achieve, then we can set up tailor-made processes to achieve them.”
He reiterated his desire to categorise projects as a means of ensuring more efficient project delivery within improved timelines; these categorisations will be achieved through the development of PPP project thresholds.
On already existing PPP projects, the DG said that the Commission would evaluate all concession contracts to ensure the projects were performing optimally while ensuring the projects are a win-win for both the private investor and the government.
He added, “The message to all stakeholders, investors, strategic partners and all Nigerians is that the ICRC is open for business. I will take very bold decisions, I will.”
President Bola Tinubu appointed Ewalefoh in July with a charge to attract private sector funds to boost infrastructure development using PPPs.
He replaced Michael Ohiani, who served as the DG for two years.
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