Infrastructure: ICRC to develop PPP investment catalogue for MDAs

. . . Partners NIMASA to unlock PPP potential in maritime sector

Omeiza Bilal

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says it is developing a Public Private Partnership (PPP) investment catalogue for Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government, to advise them on opportunities in the various sectors.

Director General of the ICRC Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh disclosed this when he paid a courtesy and monitoring visit to the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, in Lagos.

Ewalefoh said that the Commission will no longer wait for the MDAs or private investors to come up with PPP proposals, pointing out that there are so many opportunities for investment in infrastructure development using PPP that were yet to be tapped across various sectors.

He therefore said the commission was already identifying such opportunities which it will catalogue and issue as PPP investment advice to all relevant MDAs.

“We are coming up with a catalogue of potential PPP projects that we are going to be presenting to agencies as PPP advise to say: look, this opportunity exists here, why don’t you tap in, it has been done in this and that country.

“Part of our mandate is to build the PPP market, it’s not just to regulate and give certification but to ensure that MDAs know the opportunities. There are many areas that you can tap in to.

“The potential for NIMASA is huge, those potentials have not been tapped and there is a need for us to collaborate on those potential projects; this is part of the charge to me by Mr President that I should harness private sector funds to build infrastructure.

“The only way we can achieve that is to go out and identify areas where private sector funding will be needed to build infrastructure for Nigerians to enjoy the promise of renewed hope.

“We have identified some of these areas in NIMASA and the entire maritime space and that is why we are here today,” he said.

Dr Ewalefoh noted that the safety agency was already embarking on key PPP arrangements to build, operate and/or maintain some of its infrastructure, but urged the DG to work towards expanding the scope of the agency’s PPP engagements.

The DG also informed the NIMASA team that the Commission also visited to ascertain the level of performance of the PPP projects under NIMASA and evaluate NIMASA’s level of compliance with the PPP contract as well as those of the concessionaires.

In his remarks, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola commended the DG of ICRC for his new policy direction that will accelerate the process of PPP procurements.

He said that he has always been worried about how long it took to complete the certification and approval of PPPs, noting that the streamlining of the ICRC processes was a welcome development.

He assured the ICRC DG of the cooperation of NIMASA to boost PPP infrastructure development in the maritime safety sector.

The duo of ICRC and NIMASA DGs also discussed certain areas that hampered the ongoing PPP engagements, for which Dr Ewalefoh promised to intervene and liaise with the relevant government stakeholders.

The ICRC team accompanied by the NIMASA team conducted a joint monitoring visit to the concessionaires of the Offshore Waste Reception Facilities; African Circle and OXP Marine.

The team sought to know the level of compliance with the terms of the PPP contract agreement and possible challenges.

The team resolved to hold a stakeholder engagement to address the identified challenges.