FG Gears Up for 12 Highways’ Concession

*Eyes N1.1tn investments, 250,000 jobs

The federal government yesterday started the procurement process
for the concession of 12 major roads under the Highway Development
and Management Initiative (HDMI), covering all the six geopolitical
zones of the country.

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN),
stated at the ceremony in Abuja that the aggregate total of 1,963
kilometres, which is 5.6 per cent of the 35,000-kilometre federal
road network, would be affected by the development.

He said the 12 roads were chosen to ensure the coverage of each
of the six geo-political zones, adding that the initial capital
investments would be about N1.134 trillion.

He listed the highways to include Benin-Asaba, Abuja-Lokoja,
Kano-Katsina, Onitsha-Owerri, Sagamu-Benin, Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga and
Kano-Maiduguri which fall into lot one.

The second lot comprises Potiskum-Damaturu, Lokoja-Benin,
Enugu-Port Harcourt, Ilorin-Jebba, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta and
Lagos-Badagry federal highways.

According to him, the project could create 50,000 direct jobs
and 200,000 indirect employments.

“Currently, the government is executing over 700 different
contracts, which aggregate to the rehabilitation and reconstruction
of over 13,000 km of roads and bridges across all the 36 states,
including the Federal Capital Territory,” he stated.

Fashola added that due to the size of the roads in the country,
there is an increasing and unsatisfied demand for funding to
finance the projects to completion and to maintain them.

He explained that there’s also the need to finance other
complementary services like weighbridges, rest houses, towing
vehicles and road furniture, which seem better suited for the
commercial initiative of the private sector.

“In the interim, the government is constrained to borrow, offer
tax credit, and increase her revenue mobilisation capacities in
order to sustain this massive infrastructure renaissance.

“This is the background to the HDMI, which is another effort to
mobilise private capacity, resources and entrepreneurship into the
Nigerian highway sector; and hopefully convert roads from just
social assets into assets of commercial opportunities and
enterprise,” the minister stated.

He explained that the HDMI is made up of two categories:
Value-added Concessions (VAC) and the Unbundled Assets Approvals
(UAA).

The UAA is expected to provide the opportunity for small
businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that
are available along the Right of Way (RoW) while under the VAC, the
road pavement and entire right of way is given out for development
and management by the concessionaire.

Fashola stated that not only has the right of way of the 12
roads been fully gazetted, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory
Commission (ICRC), as a regulatory body for concessions of nature,
has also issued the Certificate of Compliance for the Outline
Business Case that is necessary to commence the process.

In order to ensure competitiveness and to guarantee
transparency, the minister said a procurement portal had been
developed to serve as the interface with the public and to manage
the HDMI from procurement to implementation, to maintain the
integrity of the process and to keep the playing field level.

He said the HDMI portal would open on March 29, 2021 and all
transactions would be done through the portal.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Hussein
Babangida, had said the programme was meant to leverage private
sector investment to improve facilities and operations on the
selected routes.

According to him, it will also help maximise the
revenue-generating potential of the routes, reiterate the
government’s role in infrastructural development as facilitator and
enabler of investment; and ensure international best practices in
the development and management of highways, amongst others.

*Eyes N1.1tn investments, 250,000 jobs

The federal government yesterday started the procurement process
for the concession of 12 major roads under the Highway Development
and Management Initiative (HDMI), covering all the six geopolitical
zones of the country.

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN),
stated at the ceremony in Abuja that the aggregate total of 1,963
kilometres, which is 5.6 per cent of the 35,000-kilometre federal
road network, would be affected by the development.

He said the 12 roads were chosen to ensure the coverage of each
of the six geo-political zones, adding that the initial capital
investments would be about N1.134 trillion.

He listed the highways to include Benin-Asaba, Abuja-Lokoja,
Kano-Katsina, Onitsha-Owerri, Sagamu-Benin, Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga and
Kano-Maiduguri which fall into lot one.

The second lot comprises Potiskum-Damaturu, Lokoja-Benin,
Enugu-Port Harcourt, Ilorin-Jebba, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta and
Lagos-Badagry federal highways.

According to him, the project could create 50,000 direct jobs
and 200,000 indirect employments.

“Currently, the government is executing over 700 different
contracts, which aggregate to the rehabilitation and reconstruction
of over 13,000 km of roads and bridges across all the 36 states,
including the Federal Capital Territory,” he stated.

Fashola added that due to the size of the roads in the country,
there is an increasing and unsatisfied demand for funding to
finance the projects to completion and to maintain them.

He explained that there’s also the need to finance other
complementary services like weighbridges, rest houses, towing
vehicles and road furniture, which seem better suited for the
commercial initiative of the private sector.

“In the interim, the government is constrained to borrow, offer
tax credit, and increase her revenue mobilisation capacities in
order to sustain this massive infrastructure renaissance.

“This is the background to the HDMI, which is another effort to
mobilise private capacity, resources and entrepreneurship into the
Nigerian highway sector; and hopefully convert roads from just
social assets into assets of commercial opportunities and
enterprise,” the minister stated.

He explained that the HDMI is made up of two categories:
Value-added Concessions (VAC) and the Unbundled Assets Approvals
(UAA).

The UAA is expected to provide the opportunity for small
businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that
are available along the Right of Way (RoW) while under the VAC, the
road pavement and entire right of way is given out for development
and management by the concessionaire.

Fashola stated that not only has the right of way of the 12
roads been fully gazetted, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory
Commission (ICRC), as a regulatory body for concessions of nature,
has also issued the Certificate of Compliance for the Outline
Business Case that is necessary to commence the process.

In order to ensure competitiveness and to guarantee
transparency, the minister said a procurement portal had been
developed to serve as the interface with the public and to manage
the HDMI from procurement to implementation, to maintain the
integrity of the process and to keep the playing field level.

He said the HDMI portal would open on March 29, 2021 and all
transactions would be done through the portal.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Hussein
Babangida, had said the programme was meant to leverage private
sector investment to improve facilities and operations on the
selected routes.

According to him, it will also help maximise the
revenue-generating potential of the routes, reiterate the
government’s role in infrastructural development as facilitator and
enabler of investment; and ensure international best practices in
the development and management of highways, amongst others.