Some market leaders in the Lagos metropolis have urged Governor Akinwumi Ambode and his Ogun State counterpart, Ibikunle Amosun, to address their challenges.
The Nation Shopping met with the leaders of Ibafo Market in Ogun State and Saw Mill market in Lagos, among other markets as well as retailers in shopping malls and super stores across the states.
Alhaja Fawusatu Ikumapami, the leader of Ibafo market in Ogun State, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to prioritise electricity supply, adding that when there is adequate generation into the national grid, Ogun State government will ensure power supply to the market. “We need steady power supply for our businesses. If electricity supply is steady here, the market will attract investors from far and near and will be more developed than what it is today,” she said, adding that the governor should help reconstruct the bad road leading to the market.
She said these would help traders spend less on transporting their produce to the market and would make their customers visit again and again.
“We want our governor to give Ibafo market in Ogun State a face-lift. The market is small, and we want it rebuilt to accommodate all of us. We are facing the challenge of free movement and some of us are left with no choice but to display our wares on the walkway and on the road and outside the market.
“We have a land that is wasting away; part of it has been turned to trailer park, we beg the new government to help us utilise it and build a bigger market for us. We also need a local government of our own and want close monitoring on those that will be working on this project, some contractors sometimes do not carry out their duties diligently,” she added.
Like Ikumapami, the leader of Saw-Mill market in Bariga-Lagos, Mrs. Abibatu Amusa also wants steady power supply, good road network and pipe-borne water in the market. Most importantly, she wants the electric pole in the market that has fallen erected to avoid any tragegy, saying the pole has been in that position for eight years.
Mrs Abimbola Adeyemi Sumola representing the Iyaloga of Oyingbo Market, said their hopes were high that soon, the face of the market would change. ‘’We expect that the new government ensures good welfare for us. We always want to be part of ultra modern markets when they are built. We no longer want to be erased from the picture and forgotten. We beg the government to build low priced shops and stalls that are affordable to the common man,’’ she said.
Alhaja Mufuliat Abimbola Adebumi the Iyaloja General of Mushin Ojuwoye Market, said much was expected from the new administration as they have promised change for the better. ‘’The issue of security should be looked into and adequate security in our market to be provided. Sometimes, when we leave our goods outside for those who do not have shops, we don’t find them the next day,’’ she said.
Mr Abdulrasheed Ariji, a representative of Office Everything store at the Silverbird Galleria said he expects that with the new government, exchange rate of the naira would be stabilised to favour traders who sell imported goods.
For Mr. George Nwokocha of Mega Plaza, his expectations are numerous. He said: “The main issue here is electricity. For many years, millions of dollars have been pumped into the power sector but, there is little or nothing to show for it. Most times, we pay electricity bills that we do not use. But, if power is stable businesses will thrive because that is the backbone of businesses in Nigeria.”
Oluwaseun Lasisi of Spar super store, said: “I think the government should address the issue of foreigners who are here to do business and use young Nigerians to build their brands and later lay them off without benefits. Most of us are suffering in silence.“
The management of Leisure mall in Surulere agrees no less with the others. To them, the starting point is fixing the power sector. ‘’Electricity should be made available for use because lack of it has led to the closure of some businesses that we know of. Also, there should be a tax review. It should be reduced or better amenities provided,” he added.
Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are being adopted by banks to fix Nigeria’s N10.3 trillion infrastructure deficit. COLLINS NWEZE writes on the roles of commercial banks in driving PFI and PPP to achieve set objectives.
Infrastructure development is central to Nigeria’s bid to attain social and economic stability. This is why the federal and state governments are committed to building infrastructure.
Infrastructure have to do with the fixed provision of tangible assets on which other intangibles can be built. Not limited in scope, they include the provision of housing, power, transport, education, communication, and technology.
Former Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister for Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala estimated that Nigeria needs N10.63 trillion ($67 billion) for road upgrades, bridge repairs, the energy sector, hospitals and schools.
Also, the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) Report for 2011 estimates that Nigeria requires sustained spending of $14.2 billion per annum over the next decade in order to address the infrastructure challenge.
Furthermore, the chairman of the board of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Chief Ernest Shonekan, had stated at the inaugural meeting of the Africa Public Private Partnership (APPP) network hosted by ICRC that there is a yawning investment gap of about $31 billion required yearly to fund infrastructure development in sub-Saharan Africa.
The above scenario clearly shows that as a result of the huge funding requirement for present and future infrastructural development and its attendant impact on survival and growth of businesses in Nigeria, traditional funding methods can no longer suffice as the traditional fund providers, different levels of government, do not have such resources at their disposal.
In view of this, Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are being adopted to meet the funding challenge. In Nigeria, PFI and PPP are relatively new models for public project finance and commercial banks remain the formal source of finance for driving PFI among enterprises. Of course, banks have three social and economic functions: to collect and secure savings and other deposits; to finance the economy by handing out credits; and to facilitate payments and to transfer funds. Their role is to reduce the gap between supply (the money deposited and potentially available) and demand (the money needed for investment) that exists between idle money and productive investment.
In recent time, an increasing number of socio-economic projects bothering on infrastructural and natural resources rejuvenation and business growth and expansion initiatives have been developed and financed through equity and medium to long term loan packages by commercial banks. In the last half decade, leading commercial banks in the country have continued to make strong mark in the area of project financing.
For banks that have been on the scene for years, it is expected that playing big in the project financing landscape would be seen as a game of experience and financial might built up over years of profitable operations in the country – a case of bailing out a structure that has heavily fed them fat in the past. However, a quick look at the country’s project financing market shows commendable influence being exerted by a few new players, who ordinarily, would have been considered as greenhorns without the required skill, stamina and wizardry to play in the intricate game of project financing. Leading in this wise is Heritage Bank, which entered the market about 24 months ago.
Since its foray into the Nigerian financial sector, Heritage Bank has played a pivotal and leading role in the equity and project financing market, arranging in excess of $2 billion of debt facilities either as lead or sole financier or financial adviser. The field of engagement has equally been diversified, covering economic sectors such as Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Entertainment & Arts, Education, Oil & Gas, Aviation & Haulage and Public Sector.
For instance, the bank has provided over $100 million in funding for a variety of transactions in the film and entertainment industry from 2013 to date. These include Bloomberg TV Africa (the Pan African TV by Bloomberg LLP), Free-to-Air TV Broadcast Rights in Nigeria for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, HIP TV (a Pan African TV Music Channel broadcast on satellite TV which was funded from scratch) and a variety of other investments spanning content, platforms and production.
Also, the innovative multi-billion naira MSME Investment Protection Fund (InPF), which is a non-collateralised funding option with embedded insurance to address the default risk inherent in the SME Finance scheme, remains a strong differentiating indicator of the Heritage Bank approach to SME funding in the country.
However, the recent successful finance of Forte Oil Plc’s acquisition of 100 brand new Mercedes Benz product delivery trucks for haulage, logistics and product transportation across the country as well as the Project Finance Facility to PIPP LVI GENCO to set up a 6.5MegaWatts Captive Power Generating Plant and a 25km Distribution Network to power Public Utilities in Lekki,Victoria Island and Ikoyi represent giant strides by the relatively young Heritage Bank which had already financed similar and bigger projects in Port Harcourt and Abuja in deals worth several billions of Naira in the last 12 months.
Heritage Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Ifie Sekibo said the lender developed and introduced wide range of services to address the capacity and financing needs of MSME businesses.
“The goal of Heritage Bank’s MSME offerings is to build a network of entrepreneurial leaders that will drive the growth of the sector. This would enhance the ability of the MSME sector to effectively play its role as the engine growth of the economy”, he said.
• Sekibo
Heritage Bank’s commitment to leadership building in the MSME sector is reflected in the bank’s SME Clinic. “The Heritage Bank SME Clinic is designed to enhance the entrepreneurial capacity of our SME customers. Through the Clinic, Heritage Bank understands the different aspects of the customer’s business in order to identify areas where it can add value. As a result, we are able to develop customised products and services based on the identified needs of each SME customer,” Sekibo said.
Also speaking on the significance of Heritage Bank’s project finance initiatives, Executive Director, Manila Banking, Niyi Adeseun noted that, “for us at Heritage Bank, our core business philosophy as a timeless wealth partner to our customers is captured in our mission to create, transfer and preserve wealth. Our support efforts through project financing in the various sectors of the economy is one of the platforms that underscore our resolve and readiness to make a mark in the financial sector as a major pivot of socio-economic transformation of our country,” he explained.
“For instance, in the Oil and Gas industry, our interventions span the downstream sector areas of product importation, supply, engineering and many more while we are also gradually getting really involved in the upstream as well. We have financed a few of such projects in Port Harcourt and we have a couple of them also in Abuja”.
In a testimonial, Group Chief Executive Officer, Forte Oil Plc, Akin Akinfemiwa lauded Heritage Bank on its project financing portfolio. According to him, “We appreciate the strategic role of Heritage Bank in financing the acquisition of our latest 100 world-class product delivery trucks which, to us, is a very strategic investment that will substantially increase our capacity to grow our revenue and profitability and ultimately maximise value for our stakeholders”.
Aside Heritage Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc recently took a frontline position in stakeholder’s discussions on bridging the gap between opportunity and infrastructure investment in Nigeria and Africa.
At a United States (US)/Africa Infrastructure Conference, themed: Building the Infrastructure for Nigeria’s Vision 20:20, was organised in the US by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in conjunction with the Embassy of Nigeria and co-sponsored by UBA Plc.
CEO, UBA Capital, Africa, Wale Shonibare spoke at a panel session titled “Financing it All”. He praised the Federal government’s renewed focus on developing infrastructure to stimulate economic growth. According to him, “policy decisions such as the recently announced tax incentives to encourage private sector investment in infrastructure are essential to accelerating investment in the sector.
He said UBA Capital is positioned to assist American and other overseas investors with interest in exploring the abundant opportunities presented by the rapid growth in the Nigerian economy. “As one of Africa’s leading financial services group, UBA has proven ability to finance big ticket transactions,” he added.
He said the conference was an important step in bringing the Vision 2020 goal to fruition. Key speakers at the conference identified project opportunities totalling $2.8 billion for successful development of roads and bridges, rail, ports, airports, agro-allied cargo operations, housing, water and information communication technology.
The World Bank said in a statement that the office will focus on infrastructure, information communications technology, the financial sector and knowledge sharing.
The lender also announced the launch of a new $90 million to support developing countries, the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility. The facility will support a broad range of economic development opportunities with a focus on promoting best practices, by leveraging the bank’s knowledge and convening power and Korea’s expertise in areas such as economic development policy, information communications technology, infrastructure and the financial sector.
Also, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has proposed plans to float Africa’s first infrastructure bonds to member nations to raise up to $22 billion for investments in much needed infrastructure projects such as ports, railways, roads and energy, across the African continent.
In a statement, the firm said this brings to reality, an initiative first raised at the March 2009 conference on Growth Corridors, hosted by Made-in-Africa Foundation’s Ozwald Boateng and UK Foreign Minister, David Miliband.
The $22 billion would take advantage of the AfDB’s AAA rating, which would make its African bonds a more secure investment than those issued by a number of European states potentially, making it one of the more attractive opportunities in the global debt capital markets.
The investment of $22 billion in infrastructure projects across Africa would, if implemented properly, have a positive effect on the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), raising it by an estimated two per cent. This would lift millions out of poverty and dramatically decrease regional disparity. Its effect on Africa could be similar to the Marshall Plan which was a huge stimulus for growth on the European continent in the post war period.
“At a time of global uncertainty, there’s an even greater sense of urgency to help developing countries tackle their challenges to reduce poverty and create greater prosperity for their people,” the bank said.
Analysts insist that Nigeria’s rich entrepreneurial culture, its dynamic economic landscape is characterised by a high level of local and international trade which has continued to witness growth over the years. This has been generating and will, possibly, continue to generate high demand for innovative commercial and corporate finance services.
They believe that new financial services providers like Heritage Bank, UBA even World Bank are already established on strong foundation to drive their survival and growth in the nation’s competitive banking sector and boost infrastructure financing.
Lack of infrastructural facilities in ports is negatively affecting agro exports as the ports are struggling to cope with commodity traffic.
National President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr Tola Faseru said ports have serious capacity problems, adding that this has lead to slow processing times. In most ports, he said lack of infrastructure hampers agro exports most as it cause delay in movements of produce in the major ports.
Though the concessionaires have initiated the modernisation of facilities, most of the improvements, he observed, however, were designed to boost agro exports.
This, he maintained, made it difficult for agro exporters to ship cargoes and experience waiting period to load the commodities.
He urged the government to made capacity building a major concern along with improving the rail and road connectivity to minor ports, stressed the need to reposition the ports as a gateway for trade.
According to him, the potential for agro export growth is enormous, but observed however that the nation’s share in the global market for agricultural products is still severely hampered, by a lack of infrastructure in the ports. Tackling logistics infrastructure deficit, he noted would open up large new trade opportunities both inside and outside the country as well as enhance returns on existing trade.
He urged stakeholders in the industry to work together to boost exports and strengthen the domestic market by mapping out obstacles to the country’s trade.
For watchers, high-cost logistics, poor infrastructure and lack of export financing are among the major bottlenecks that have long hindered agro exporters from expanding their reach.
Currently, exports are still less significant to spur growth in compared to domestic consumption and direct investment, which are the top drivers of economic expansion.
Another concern to address is the building up of the capacity of small and medium agro enterprises to increase their competitive edge over tighter competition from foreign goods, in the industry.
Nigeria needs $200 billion to build and develop the requisite broadband infrastructure required to take the nation to the next level between now and 2019.
KPMG’s Partner, Management Consulting, Mr. Joseph Tegbe, who spoke at an international forum to woo investors to the nation’s broadband sector, said over the past years, the country has witnessed massive investment, adding that the explosion in data brought about by the growth in the social media space has catalsyed the growth in broadband infrastructure in the country.
He said in the micro wave and optic fibre infrastructure provision space, Nigeria has demonstrated a readiness to accommodate foreign investors who would only be required to plug into the existing infrastructure, adding however that there is still limited coverage.
“In the metropolitan transmission ring, what you see is limited coverage. Only about 10 per cent of the cities and towns are covered today. Moving to the homes, we have extremely limited coverage. These two top layers provide a huge opportunity and gap in the broadband supply chain
“For investors in this room, an estimated $200billion is required annually over the next five years to meet this infrastructure gaps. Nigeria offers the best returns on investments, according to recent studies,” Africa Telecoms & IT, quoted Tegbe as saying at a forum organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
According to Tegbe, the Open Access Model of making broadband ubiquitous being championed by the regulator aligns with the Federal Government’s National Broadband Plan, stressing that over the past years, the diversity and growth in the information communications technology (ICT) sector has been due largely to the regulatory environment which has been friendly to investment.
He emphasised on the market potential of Nigeria which would always assure return on investment (RoI) to investors, adding that the World Bank has projected that the country’s population will overtake that of the United States (U.S) and even going to be the third largest populated country in the world next to China and India.
Said Tegbe: “Interestingly, the World Bank has projected that Nigeria will surpass the U.S in population by 2050 and most likely to become the third largest population by 2050 after China and India with a population of about 460 million people. That represents the size of the population that the investors have the opportunity of exploring.”
He said investors stood to gain incentives such as tax holiday and pioneer status in addition to a ready-made market as a result of the large population and current low spread of broadband which is also a potential high growth market because of the expansive uptake of smart devices in the country.
He recalled that in less than three years, the Nigerian market had grown from being N162million in 2011 to N150billion to date, adding that it is the evidence of the widespread demand for broadband internet service. “Just in less than three years, this market has grown from N162million in 2011 to N150billion to date. This is evidence of the widespread demand for broadband internet service in Nigeria,” he said.
Tegbe expressed confidence that with improved infrastructure spurred by foreign direct investment (FDI) that the market has the capacity for substantial growth in the next couple of years. He lamented that with existing gap between supply and demand in the broadband infrastructure across the country, the question whether the supply can match the demand, arguing that there are some gaps in the broadband market in Nigeria.
According to him, there is already a glut in undersea cables in the country but lamented the absence of complementary hinterland and metropolitan fibre network usually referred to as middle mile and last mile.
“We have currently about four submarine cables in Nigeria with terabytes capacity which only few countries in the world can actually match,” he said.
The greatest paradox of the administration of out-going President Goodluck Jonathan is that it seems to have been flying without wings these past five years. Though there is a much-vaunted Transformation Agenda, it turned out to be merely an empty slogan with neither substance nor intent by Jonathan and his team to effect change. The result is that the rot in the system only deepened in Jonathan’s time as signposted by the state of power and infrastructure in Nigeria today.
With less than one week to the end of the Jonathan era, the nation seems to be about to unravel. Electricity generation has fallen to an all-time low and the nation has been assailed by near blackout for a few weeks now, with its attendant deleterious effects on other sectors of the economy. Key physical infrastructure like road and rail systems have remained largely dilapidated and unsustainable for driving a modern economy.
The Muhammadu Buhari administration must therefore critically revisit the power and infrastructure templates with a view to totally revamping them and retooling them along the path of a twenty-first century economy. Nigeria’s power situation which indeed has become a conundrum seems to have stumped all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administrations for the past 16 years. The chief reason is that it has been mired in corruption and the more the billions of dollars being thrown at it, the more hopeless the situation is.
With an estimated $25 billion supposedly spent since the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo to date, power output at this moment sub 2,000 megawatts even though the potential capacity is said to be about 10,000megawatts. But consider the folly of building gas-fired generating plants – about 10 of them over the last 10 years – without the composite gas facilities to power them. Today, most of the new plants cannot be switched on and rolled into the national grid because the gas component was not factored into the plan ab initio.
Several of the supporting power facilities like sub-stations, initiated over the last 10 years in far-flung areas of the country were largely abandoned after huge contract sums had been paid and in some cases, twice over.
Though most of the generating and distribution arms of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were unbundled and privatised over a year ago, the impact has been insignificant. The divestment process was froth with fraud as cronies and party men that had no financial and technical capacities to run power firms were favoured.
But 18 months down the line, neither generation nor distribution has improved. Such basic matter as installing of metres to forestall arbitrary billings has not been carried out by the distribution companies (Discos). Instead, they have seemingly been content with creaming of the old, decadent order while corralling the government to approve scarce public resources for them as long-term loans. They have also enjoyed tariff hikes even when hardly any value has been added.
The transmission arm of the sector which has remained under the control of the Federal Government has been blighted by inertia as the new management firm, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), is embroiled in management tussle since it was set up. Not much improvement has been made on the old facilities and hardly any new one added. The result is that TCN has no capacity to take up to 5,000 megawatts of power if such quantity is generated anytime soon.
Like power, road and rail infrastructure remain very weak and undeveloped. The major road arteries like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Lagos-Benin Expressway, the Enugu-Aba Expressway and the East-West road spanning from Benin to Port-Harcourt need to be upgraded and built to modern day standards. Same for some of the major highways in the north like Kano to Maiduguri and Abuja to Kaduna.
Time is now too to set machinery in motion for modern rail lines in Nigeria. This is a vast country and the roads would always face rapid dilapidation if they are not supported by vast rail network. Massive and quality development will always elude this country if government does not see modern rail system as sine qua non to her modernity.
It is the same with air transport. The plan to make Nigeria the hub of air transport in Africa must be pursued by the continued development of her existing airports – both passenger and cargo facilities. For maritime transport too, the lock-down witnessed in Nigeria’s prime ports in Lagos in the last one month makes the argument for immediate revamp valid. The rail line in Nigeria’s number one port at Apapa needs to be revamped and modernised urgently so that trucks would never have to impede activities there any longer.
The Buhari administration must understand that power and transport infrastructure are the twin engines on which a modern state is run. Therefore, it must adopt a bold new approach – it needs international long-term financial grants but more important, minders who are brimming with integrity, professionalism and patriotism.
KPMG’s Partner, Management Consulting, Mr. Joseph Tegbe, has said Nigeria requires $200 billion to develop the broadband infrastructure required to take the nation to the next level between now and 2019.
Tedge, who spoke at an international forum to woo investors to the nation’s broadband sector in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate (UAE), said over the past years, the country has witnessed massive investment, adding the growth in the social media space has catalsyed this growth.
He said in the micro wave and optic fibre infrastructure provision space, Nigeria has demonstrated a readiness to accommodate foreign investors who would only be required to plug into the existing infrastructure, adding however that there is still limited coverage.
“In the metropolitan transmission ring, what you see is limited coverage. Only about 10 per cent of the cities and towns are covered today. Moving to the homes, we have extremely limited coverage. These two top layers provide a huge opportunity and gap in the broadband supply chain
“For investors in this room, an estimated $200billion is required annually over the next five years to meet this infrastructure gaps. Nigeria offers the best returns on investments according to recent studies,” Africa Telecoms & IT quoted Tegbe as saying at the forum which was organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission NCC).
According to Tegbe, the Open Access Model of making broadband ubiquitous being championed by the regulator aligns squarely with the Federal Government’s National Broadband Plan, stressing that over the past years, the diversity and growth in the information communications technology (ICT) sector has been due largely to the regulatory environment which has been friendly to investment.
He emphasised Nigeria’s market potential, which would always assure return on investment (RoI) to investors, adding that the World Bank has projected that the country’s population will overtake that of the United States (US) and even going to be the third largest populated country in the world next to China and India.
Tegbe said: “Interestingly, the World Bank has projected that Nigeria will surpass the US in population by 2050 and most likely to become the third largest population by 2050 after China and India with a population of about 460 million people. That represents the size of the population that the investors have the opportunity of exploring.”
He said investors stood to gain incentives such as tax holiday and pioneer status in addition to a ready-made market as a result of the large population and current low spread of broadband which is also a potential high growth market because of the expansive uptake of smart devices in the country.
He recalled that in less than three years, the market had grown from being N162 million in 2011 to N150 billion to date, adding that it is the evidence of the widespread demand for broadband internet service.
“Just in less than three years, this market has grown from N162 million in 2011 to N150 billion to date. This is evidence of the widespread demand for broadband internet service in Nigeria,” he said.
The Olota of Ota HRH Moshood Fehintola, has called called on the Ogun State governor to up its infrastrurural drive in the state.
He spoke at the presentation of over 200 lockers and chairs by the Nigerian Red Cross, Ogun State, to Ansar-Ud- Deen Practicing School, Ota, and Local Government School 1V, Sango-Ota.
The presentation was funded by the American People through the Ambassadorial Special Self-Help Project (SSHP) 2014/2015 grant window.
The event pooled together pupils, teachers, parents, principals of the two schools, and other stakeholders. According to the monarch, education in public schools, has fallen below standard and government is not doing enough to remedy the situation.
Fehintola, who was represented by the Secretary of Olota-in -Council, Chief Osunabu Bamgboye said: “We have a lot of public schools that have between 80 and 100 pupils in one class with only one teacher to attend to them while other schools need urgent rehabilitation in the state,” he said.
“Our children deserve the best and it does not matter whether they are attending public or private school, but what matters is that our children must be well grounded and prepared for the ever changing world,” he said.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman, Universal Basic Education Board, Mufutau Ajibola, said the government was working hard to provide quality education in all the local councils in the state.
He said: “To revamp our public, the state Universal Basic Education Board had provided many sets of plastic chairs and tables for Early Childhood Care Development Education Centre (ECCDE): 17, 043 sets of 2 seater desks and benches for public primary schools and 10, 900 sets of two seater desks and benches for public Junior Secondary Schools and 7, 148 sets of one table and two chairs for teachers.”
He thanked the Red Cross for the exhibiting one of the principles of their objectives- voluntary service, adding that the gesture is complementing government’s efforts.
President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that his administration has fashioned a 30-year national infrastructure integrated master plan that would cost $3trillion to provide infrastructure in the major sectors of the economy.
Speaking in Abuja while performing the groundbreaking ceremony of Land Swap Districts, President Jonathan said the master plan would run between 2013 and 2043.
He said the 30-year master plan which has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), would cover the entire major infrastructure such as energy, transportation and security, among others.
The President, who was represented at the event by Vice-President Namadi Sambo said the development of the 30-year infrastructure plan was in line with his administration’s transformation agenda in meeting with infrastructural gap in the country.
His words: “In line with the transformation agenda of our administration and in realising the inadequacies of an infrastructure plan, I directed a 30-year national integrated plan be put together by stakeholders.
This plan has been presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and has been duly approved
“The national integrated master plan will require a total investment of $3 trillion over a period of 30 years from 2013 to 2043
The sectors for investment include energy about $1 billion, transportation $775 billion, agriculture, water and mining $400 billion, housing and regional development $350 billion, and ICT $325 million, social infrastructures $150 billion and vital registration and security $50 billion”
President Jonathan said the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would require about N2.6 trillion in the next four years which he noted would be targeted at providing infrastructure in the territory.
“In this integrated infrastructure master plan, the FCT will require about N2.6 trillion in the next four years representing 65 per cent. It would be targeted at providing infrastructure in the territory” he said
He remarked that the land swap project by the FCT Administration was a further testimony to the impact of his administration’s commitment in transforming governance, especially in attracting private sector investment in public infrastructure.
Speaking earlier at the event, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed said 15 investors in the Land Swap project would spend N64 billion in the funding of infrastructure and housing for the original inhabitants of Abuja affected by the project.
He said a total of $6 billion investment is expected to be injected to the project by investors; noting that N4 billion has so far been expended by investors to produce the necessary critical documentation for the districts
The Kebbi State People Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Gen. Bello Sarkin Yaki, has promised to provide social amenities for the people of Yauri Emirate.
He spoke during the rallies in Shanga Yauri, Ingaski and Wara. He said the people have demonstrated love by coming out to support him throughout the campaign.
The governorship candidate assured the people that his administration would continue from where the governor will stop, adding that he will implement developmental projects across the state.
Yaki emphasised that construction of roads and provision of water would be accorded priority because they are the problems facing the area.
“I would not disappoint anybody; I assured you people that more dividends of democracy would surely be provided” he added.
He called on the electorate to ensure the collection of their PVC and come out on the election day and vote Massively for PDP.
The Chief Executive Officer of Computer Warehouse Group, Austin Okere has described outsourcing as a key enabler of optimal use of information technology (IT) infrastructure.
Speaking at the Airtel’s Regional Corporate Customers’ Forum/Dinner in Lagos titled: ‘Is IT and Network a Revenue Enabler or a Call Centre?’, Okere said there are two sides to a coin.
He said the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN), which CWG partnered Airtel and others to build, is a cost to the government, Airtel’s investment on aerial fibre optic cables is also at a cost to the telco.
He explained that both are investments which benefits outweigh their costs, adding that while the former connects the country to the global learning and research portal, the latter makes the telco’s network more resilient.
“The discussion five years ago was what was appropriate to spend and there was so much research and the pendulum swung to between three and five per cent of revenue, which was adjudged to be a fair amount of money for IT to spend. The issue about benchmarking this amount is that you are taking the median and somebody is spending 1000 when the median is 500.
“If am spending the 5000 and citing Gartner figures, you are not being fair to me as a CIO. At the end of the day, those benchmarks ended up just what they were, which were benchmarks. Ecobank has a shared centre which it called e-process, which is eventually turning into an IT company that is beginning to provide service to all Ecobank’s operations globally.
He said in the telecoms sector, the same process is done a little bit differently through outsourcing. IBM does outsourcing for Airtel; Huawei does for Etisaltat. The other one has CWG doing their outsourcing. Okere explained that outsourcing becomes more optimal because the companies doing it are also doing it for all the customers, saying that there is learning that you are going to bring to the table that will make you hit the ground running quicker.
“It doesn’t diminish the value of what you are getting because you are not doing it because somebody else is doing it for you. What it does is that it is something that you are good at doing, so your IT people will sit up and roll up their sleeves,” Okere said.
He identified cloud computing as another cost cutting design, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that don’t have the huge funding requirements of setting up an IT centre. According to Okere, the smart thing for SMEs to do is to take advantage of a platform that has been built.
“The next level is cloud computing. This is speaking more to the SMEs because they cannot afford the kind of budget that you will need even to set up an IT centre and you are talking about shops in Ikota, in Maitiama, Iyana Ipaja. I am talking about people making tie and dye; people in carpentry and so on. They want to use technology to enhance their businesses and they need to incur a certain cost,” he said.
Okere sais the way forward is for them to take a solution that someone has done for everybody and plug into it just like a utility. It is more optimal to have water from the waterworks than everybody digging a borehole. In Lagos, it is more optimal for power to come from the central grid than everybody having a generator.
“We are spending the same amount. When everybody is generating power, the cost does not match the benefit. When the power is coming from the grid, you make an investment in which the benefit outweighs the cost. So, at the end of the day, you will need to spend money for the technology that you need to provide services because you have to look at what is the optimal rate to make an investment so that the benefits far outweigh the cost.”
