Nigeria needs $35bn yearly to improve infrastructure – Presidency

The presidency said on Tuesday Nigeria required at least $35 billion yearly to develop its infrastructure.

The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement titled: “WHAT THE RENEWED HOPE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND MEANS,” issued in Abuja.

He said the proposed $35 billion would cover the country’s infrastructure expenditure from 2024 to 2040.

Onanuga also shed light on the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Funds initiated by President Bola Tinubu.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Tuesday approved the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund to bridge the country’s $25 billion per annum infrastructure funding gap.

The statement read: “Background

“Nigeria needs $35 billion yearly, up till 2040, to cover its infrastructure expenditure.

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“President Muhammadu Buhari, realising that the government could not meet this huge cost, established the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) with the National Sovereign Wealth Authority playing a vital role.

“The PIDF helped in the realisation of critical projects such as the Second Niger Bridge and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“But the PIDF faced funding constraints, delays in project execution, leading to rising costs of materials, bureaucratic and institutional challenges.

“Enter the RHIDF.

“These challenges are what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF) seeks to overcome. It was unanimously approved on Monday 25 March by the Federal Executive Council.

“As conceived, it is a game-changing, innovative, and transformative Fund that will drive economic growth in road, rail construction, agriculture, aviation, education, health, energy, and technology.

“It will provide the elixir for critical national projects that will accelerate infrastructure and economic development in all parts of the country.

“With eyes on raising N20 Trillion, about $14 billion take-off capital, the Fund will support projects that will promote growth, ‘enhance local value-addition through backward, forward and parallel linkages.’

“Employment opportunities also will be created and exports promoted. For instance, a core focus of the Fund will be to enhance the agricultural value chain to boost food security.

“By fortifying agricultural infrastructure, the Fund will ensure that post-harvest losses are reduced and food supply chains strengthened.”

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