Roads are part of the pivotal infrastructure that will determine the pace and direction of economic recovery and reconstruction. With lack of funding, governments are supporting public-private partnerships (PPPs) to expand and maintain the road network.
To this end, PPPs have presented a model, which has been implemented with great success across Nigeria. In Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has committed the government to the promotion of aggressive infrastructure investment and supporting its delivery.
He has on several occasions said building a modern, sustainable and reliable infrastructure is critical to raising growth rates and offering opportunities, and facilitates investment in human capital development.
To this end, private sector companies such as Alaro City are partnering the state to inaugurate well-planned and maintained roads to accelerate growth. Alaro City’s Construction Manager, Femi Akindele, said the company has completed its main boulevard, stretching eight lanes.
He described it as the widest PPP-owned road in Africa and marks another historic milestone for Lagos’ new city. When completed, he said, the boulevard symbolises the remarkable infrastructure development in Africa and Alaro City’s economic strength within the Lekki Free Zone.
He said: “We adopted the best global standards with storm drainage and greenery systems, as well as cycling and pedestrian lanes. Same as everything else we are building here, our main boulevard, which is being constructed by Craneburg, meets the highest international standards and will be seen as a model by other players in the industry.”
“Our second major road, the main boulevard, also plays a critical role in creating access to several parts of the city’s residential, commercial, and light industrial zones.’
“More than 60 local, regional and global companies are operational or under development in Alaro City, signaling the city’s rapid infrastructure rollout since development started in 2019.”
The companies that are based in the city, he said, include BUA Group, Kenol FZE, HMD, Mantrac Caterpillar, Ariel Foods, Sana Group and Sterling Healthcare.