Infrastructure Deficit: Nasarawa State Trains Public Servants

To address infrastructure deficit and boost the Nigerian economy, the Nasarawa State Government has trained management staff of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies on how to implement climate-smart Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

The capacity building workshop was organized by Nasarawa Investment and Development Agency (NASIDA) in collaboration with the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF).

Speaking at the event in Lafia, the Managing Director of NASIDA, Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi, stated the importance of PPP to infrastructural development, saying that Nasarawa state remained a shining example amongst sub-nationalities in the West African region.

Abdullahi said that the essence of PPP in delivering public goods was to optimise non-performing or underperforming assets of the government to provide greater value to both the government and the people.

He appreciated the partnership with UKNIAF on the project’s delivery framework, which he said, aligned with the objective of the Nasarawa State government to deliver infrastructure projects with a catalytic effect on its ambition to grow the economy.

“UKNIAF had supported us to deliver critical reforms, develop a contingent liability framework, and a PPP manual, which is one of the most effective and most robust by a sub-national in Nigeria.

“Our PPP framework looks at transactions and projects as candidates of the policies; how we can improve on policies from lessons learnt from transactions.

“We have done a significant amount of transactions more than any other state in Nigeria, and if we are to sustain the delivery of PPPs in this magnitude, there is a need to build our capacity continuously,” he noted.

Abdullahi urged the participants to cascade the knowledge gained down to others in their various MDAs to become conversant with the principles and skills required to deliver sustainable PPPs across all sectors of the economy.

Also speaking, a PPP Specialist with UKNIAF, Mr. Mike Imafido, said the participants were exposed to a new PPP tool known as the 360 Degree Project Screening and Assessment Tool (360 degree PSAT).

He explained that the tool was developed to support institutions in screening and preparing infrastructure projects.

“Output from the tool is a pipeline of projects that are bankable. It allows policymakers to easily make a decision about whether to commit further resources to a project or not.

“Ultimately, it allows public institutions to ensure value for money on projects,” Imafidor said.

He pointed out that the workshop aims to improve the delivery of climate-smart PPP infrastructure projects in Nasarawa State.

 “We provided practical guidance on how Nasarawa State can advance its pipeline of PPP projects, specifically in the areas of Agriculture, Energy, and Technology in order to attract financing,” he said.