Imported User:
The Federal Government is to set up Public Private Partnership (PPP) Unit in its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to address the infrastructure gap in the country.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOSF), Alhaji Isa Sali disclosed this on Monday at the opening of a workshop on National PPP Awareness and Sensitisation Programme in Abuja.
He said the unit would strengthen collaborative efforts between the public and the private sector.
Sali said that the government was determined to institutionalise the PPP arrangement in the development of infrastructure.
The HOSF noted that the country had suffered huge infrastructure deficit in various sectors of the economy, including transportation, power, water supply, education, housing and health.
He recalled the recent estimate released by the Debt Management Office, which puts Nigeria's required capital investment to bridge infrastructure deficit at over 15 billion dollars (about N15 trillion).
``Infrastructure forms the bedrock of all socio-economic development in any country.
``The lack of it, as it is the case with Nigeria, stifles economic growth and development, restricts productivity and limits competitiveness.
``The condition of our country’s infrastructure is dismal, and the present administration is working hard to ensure that the country meets its millennium development goals and realise its Vision for 2020.
``The setting up of PPP Units in the MDAs will help in filling the resource gap in project delivery and operation.
``The PPP arrangements engender acceleration of project delivery, lead to faster execution of projects and reduce the costs of projects.''
Sali explained that the PPP arrangement involved the designing, building, financing and operation of assets and services of government by the private sector.
The private investor, according to him, would in turn generate revenue through levies on tariffs or periodic payments for services rendered from the government over the life span of the PPP arrangement.
He added that the public sector would maintain ownership, handle oversight and quality assessment while the private sector would take actual delivery of the services or projects.
The Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr Mansur Ahmed, said the workshop was to highlight the advantages of using the PPP in procurement, concession and facility management.
Mrs Kehinde Ajoni, a Permanernt Secretary in the Office of the HOSF, said strategies had been mapped out to monitor the performances of the MDAs.
She said a template had been designed to ensure scientific assessment of PPP desk officers and their activities in the MDAs.
The workshop was organised by the ICRC in collaboration with the Office of HOSF. (NAN)
