FG to Concession 12 Highways Worth N1.13Tn across the 6 Geo-Political Zones

In the just concluded week, the Federal Government stated that it has commenced the procurement process for the concession of 12 major highways in the six geo-political zones across the country, under its “Highway Development and Management Initiative” (HDMI). According to the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, the project which would gulp an initial capital investment of N1.13 trillion would have a positive effect on about 1,963 kilometres, out of the 35,000-kilometer federal road network.

The highways include:

• Benin-Asaba,
• Abuja-Lokoja,
• Kano-Katsina,
• Onitsha-Owerri,
• Sagamu-Benin,
• Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga and
• Kano-Maiduguri,
• Potiskum – Damaturu,
• Lokoja-Benin,
• Enugu-PortHarcourt,
• Ilorin-Jebba,
• Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta and
• Lagos-Badagry.

The Minister noted that the objective of HDMI is to mobilize private sector resources and capacity into the Nigerian Highway, given the large road network across the country and the associated funding gap which often leads to uncompleted road projects.

The HDMI is of two categories: Value Added Concessions (VAC) and the Unbundled Assets Approvals (UAA). While the UAA is expected to give the opportunity to small businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that are available along the Right of Way (RoW), VAC is designed to give out the road pavement and entire right of way for development and management by the concessionaire. FG also developed a procurement portal that would serve as the interface with the public in order to ensure competitiveness, transparency and integrity of the process.

We commend the move by the Federal Government to bring private sector capacity into achieving quality roads across the country, as Nigerian highways are currently in a dilapidated state, making movement by road a nightmare for users, despite the huge borrowed-funds committed to such important infrastructure.

Thus, with the involvement of the private sector, the quality of roads will improve as they are better maintained with less strain on the government purse. We think the strategy will help FG redirect its scarce resources and reduce its expenditure given its already high fiscal deficit burden.