Abuja – Stakeholders at an ongoing Nigeria Public Private Partnership (PPP) Conference on Wednesday advocated proper budgeting for PPP projects to attract the right funding.
They spoke during a roundtable on “Developing a long term financial strategy for PPP in Nigeria’’.
The theme of the two-day conference, which began on Tuesday, is “Accelerating infrastructure investment in Nigeria.’’
One of the discussants, Mr Taiwo Dauda of The Infrastructure Bank, said that proper budgeting and presentation would enhance getting requisite funding for projects.
“In terms of financing PPP in Nigeria and anywhere else in the world, the key aspect of that is getting the requisite funding.
“That means not only pricing but also the tenure of the fund, the form of the fund, whether in cash, equipment or expertise.
“To attract that type of funding, you need a well developed and well prepared budget,’’ he said.
Dauda also said that government agencies, which primarily were guarantors of government projects, should ensure that the right feasibility studies were carried out.
Mr Kalu Balogun of Price Water Coopers said having all stakeholders understand the risks involved in any project before execution was critical to its success.
Balogun said this would inform stakeholders’ decision on which projects to fund.
He, however, said that there were ample opportunities for both local and foreign investors to invest in Nigeria and make meaningful impact.
The conference Director, Mr Olukayode Fabunmi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the concept of PPP was often misunderstood, making it difficult to execute.
“You have in one hand social infrastructure competing against commercial infrastructure; a government seeks to do social infrastructure but mismatches it for commercial infrastructure.
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`So when that mindset is wrong, it will lead to some sort of misunderstanding on the part of the private sector and this, again leads to conflict,’’ he said.
On risk sharing, Fabunmi said that it should first be identified and allocated, adding that government must be bold enough to bear its own risks to embolden private sector to invest.
“Risk allocation becomes a bit more challenging when it comes to the question of who bears what.
“For instance, when you need to have a sort of guarantee from the government and the government reneges on that, the private sector would have challenges,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the conference is aimed at promoting PPP to improve infrastructure development in the country. (NAN)