The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), has assured that the next phase of the Reform and Privatisation Programme of the Federal Government will be to focus on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).
Mr Alex Okoh, the Director-General of BPE gave the assurance in a statement issued by Amina Othman, the Head, Public Communications of the organization on Wednesday in Abuja.
Okoh spoke when he received a delegation from the World Bank led by Mr Volker Treichel, the Senior Economist (Economics and Private Sector Development).
Okoh, represented by Mr Sanusi Sule, the Director, Infrastructure and PPP Department, said the focus on PPPs was with the view to correcting the infrastructure deficit in the country.
According to him, the country’s infrastructure gap is huge as it is estimated that Nigeria needs to invest more than three trillion dollars in the next 30 years to bridge the gap, an average of 100 billion per annum for the next six years.
He also said that the new phase would target reforms mostly in the utility and infrastructure sectors which include, water resources, railways, airports and highways.
Okoh added that the need for refocusing on PPP was borne out of the increasing budgetary constraints to fund the development of new infrastructure and effectively maintain existing ones.
He noted that PPP was necessary to address deteriorating infrastructure (dilapidated roads, schools and hospitals) and higher public expectations in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure service delivery.
According to him, the country’s infrastructure stock is too low for any meaningful development, saying “the public sector cannot afford to provide the resources required to bridge the huge infrastructure gap”.
Okoh said that the most feasible option was to attract private sector investments, adding that the bureau was working assiduously with key stakeholders to come up with a robust framework and process for implementing and managing PPPs in the country.
Treichel said the visit was part of the World Bank’s private sector diagnostic assessment of the public sector in Nigeria.
He added that the bank was also looking for opportunities to provide short term assistance to the bureau in the next three years.
