Nigeria Attracts $133m Private Infrastructure Participation In 2023 – World Bank

Nigeria in 2023 attracted $133 million in private infrastructure investment out of the $86 billion investments made in low- and middle-income countries, the World Bank Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) 2023 Annual Report, has shown.

The report revealed that $3.5 billion investments had gone into 66 projects across Sub-Saharan (SSA) with South Africa attracting the most investments in the region. Nigeria, with $133 million had gotten only about 3.8 per cent of the $3.5 billion commitments made to SSA countries, falling behind eight other SSA countries in attracting private infrastructure investment commitments in 2023.

South Africa accounted for the highest investment with $1.044 billion committed into 11 projects followed by Senegal which had $316 million committed into five projects. Tanzania  also had $308 million committed to five projects.

Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Cabo Verde, and Ghana also had $287 million, $282 million, $227 million, $154 million and $137 million respectively, whilst Nigeria had $133 million committed to three projects.

The 2023 Annual Report on Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) by the World Bank disclosed this while noting a five per cent year-on-year decline in private infrastructure investment in low- and middle-income countries in 2023.

According to the report, the $3.5 billion investments in the region marked a 24 per cent decrease from the investment levels of the previous year and a 46 percent decrease from the past five-year average.

“The largest contributor to the region’s PPI was South Africa, responsible for 30 per cent of the regional PPI, followed by Senegal and Tanzania. The sector receiving the largest share of PPI was energy, followed by the ICT sector.” The report read.

Commenting on the report, Infrastructure vice president at the World Bank, Guangzhe Chen, said “Getting the right infrastructure in place is crucial for people to live to their full potential. With government budgets under pressure and an infrastructure financing gap totaling multiple trillions of dollars, more private sector participation is needed to deliver infrastructure projects.

“At the World Bank, we are pulling out all the stops to enable this progress, through our work on public-private partnerships, our overhauled guarantees program, and our grants to the world’s poorest countries. The PPI report is an important tool for us in these efforts. It is the only database of its kind, offering a direct view into the regions and sectors receiving infrastructure investments, how these projects are structured, and what role multilateral development banks can play in these contexts.”