By Uzair Adam Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that 1.5 trillion dollars is the cumulative estimated amount needed by the country over a ten-year period, to achieve an appreciable level of the National Infrastructure Stock.

President Buhari gave the figure on Tuesday, 2nd November 2021, in Glasgow at a COP 26 high-level side event on improving global infrastructure hosted by President Joe Biden of the United States, EU Commission President, Von Der Leyen and the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

The statement signed Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, malam Garba Shehu disclosed this, adding that: ‘‘Nigeria is ready for your investments in infrastructural development in the country.

‘‘My administration has established a clear legal and regulatory framework for private financing of infrastructure to establish a standard process, especially on the monitoring and evaluation process. We look forward to working with you in this regard.”

President Buhari also declared that his administration had taken infrastructure expansion in Nigeria seriously, conscious of the fact that new investments in critical sectors of the economy would aid lifting 100 million Nigerians from poverty by 2030.

‘‘There is a nexus between infrastructural development and the overall economic development of a nation.

‘‘On my assumption of office in 2015, Nigeria faced a huge infrastructure deficit and the total National Infrastructure Stock was estimated at 35% of our Gross Domestic Product.

‘‘In solving these problems, we embarked on a massive infrastructure expansion programme in the areas of Health care, Education, Transportation, Manufacturing, Energy, Housing, Agriculture, and Water Resources.

The President welcomed the G7 countries for its ground-breaking plan to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure investment for low – and middle-income countries.

He noted that the: “Build Back Better World” plan, an initiative of the G7 countries, is expected to be a values-driven, high-standard, and transparent infrastructure partnership.

‘‘It is our fervent hope and expectations that this plan will be pursued to its logical conclusion in order to bridge the infrastructural gap between the North and South,’’ he said.

The President also used the occasion to outline the principles, values and standards Nigeria would like to see from infrastructure initiatives and the challenges the country has faced in partnering with donors on infrastructure development.

ByAdmin

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