Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh, has once again reiterated the need for an increase in the private sector involvement in the financing of critical infrastructural development in the maritime sector in order for the industry to become a major revenue earner for the Federal Government.
He made this assertion during a webinar session on “Public Private Partnership as alternative financing model in the maritime sector” hosted by the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by SIFAX Group.
Citing the success of the port concession as a justification for more private sector funding, wherein he revealed that the federal government’s revenue from the sector had more than doubled ten years post-concession, Okoh posited had that competing needs for government’s lean resources had also made PPP a welcome option.
The BPE DG further revealed that the Federal Government had simplified the PPP process to allow private sector players to scout for projects that can be financed through PPP model.
He urged the private sector to carefully identify the gap in transport infrastructures in the nation’s maritime sector and work towards providing solutions to these gaps.
Okoh noted that such investments in and around Nigeria’s ports will help reduce the high shipping and terminal charges and local transport to warehouse costs which will in turn make the country’s port more competitive and business friendly in comparison to other African countries.
In his remarks, Mr. Bode Ojeniyi, Group Executive Director, Corporate Services, SIFAX Group, the sponsors of the webinar, says that the subject matter was timely and germane given the huge infrastructural deficit in the sector that could be addressed with PPP.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.