South Africa to collaborate with Nigeria on infrastructure development

• The South African Government has expressed willingness to partner with Nigeria on infrastructure development
• The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria said that his team is on a visit to ICRC to discuss the development
• The envoy said the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) was part of the financiers of the Kano-Maradi rail project

The South African government seeks to partner with Nigeria on mutually beneficial infrastructure development via public-private partnerships.

The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Tharmi Mseleku, revealed this when he led a team of officials on a courtesy visit to the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Michael Ohiani.

South Africa funds Kano-Maradi rail project

Mseleku said that despite Nigeria and South Africa learning PPP implementation from each other, there is a need for a greater height.

He said:

“We are here to get the information about the kind of infrastructure envisaged to be developed through PPPs because we can support, both from the financing and technical point of view,” he said.

According to the Acting Head of Media and Publicity of ICRC, Manji Yarling, Mseleku said that the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) was part of the financiers of the Kano-Maradi rail project, stating that the rail project, adding that the bank is ready to do more in terms of funding.

A statement by the Acting Head, Media and Publicity of ICRC, Manji Yarling, quoted Mseleku as saying that the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) was part of the financiers of the Kano-Maradi rail project, adding that the bank is willing to do more in the area of financing.

“The DBSA is not the only one looking to finance infrastructure from that perspective. They can also support the post-contract processes.

“We came to have a conversation to open the doors to rekindle the relationship. South Africa is open for business,” he said.

The Director General of ICRC, who received the delegation, noted that the relationship between both countries on PPPs dates back to the inception of ICRC when staff members went on a study tour of the South African PPP institutions.

The Guardian reports that he hinted that the Commission had recorded significant milestones from then on, with many PPP projects already underway.

“Over the years, we now have 82 ongoing PPP projects that we are regulating. From 2010 to date, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved 102 PPP projects worth N10.8 trillion to be invested in by the private sector.

“We have been able to achieve a lot in terms of using PPP to deliver on the country’s infrastructure needs,” he said.

Nigeria establishes PPP Training Institute

Ohiani told the envoy that the Commission had also established a PPP Training Institute called the Nigerian Institute for Infrastructure and PPP (NII3P), where training is offered on PPPs, with an MBA in PPP program also available in Partnership with the Malaysian University for Science and Technology.

He also notified the High Commissioner that some South African companies were already engaged in PPPs in Nigeria while others indicated interest.

“We look forward to having further collaborations, especially as it relates to the Africa PPP Network (AP3N), which is scheduled to hold in South Africa later in the year,” he said.

Wasting away: Nigerian Airways lead list of 10 government abandoned projects worth over N11trn

Legit.ng reported that Nigeria has a large number of uncompleted projects embarked by different governments(state, federal) over the last 40 years.

The Punch newspaper reports that Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors said the total abandon projects in Nigeria are about 56,000.

Among the abandon projects 10 are regarded as massive at an estimated cost of N12 trillion as of August 2021.

Source: Legit.ng