The Federal Government through the Ministry of Works has secured a €25m grant for construction of 28 priority bridges in Nigeria.
This was disclosed after a meeting with a team of investors from the Netherlands led by the Nigerian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Oluremi Oliyide on Friday in Abuja.
The initiative is part of moves to secure additional funding to rejig the nation’s economy.
According to a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media, Orji Uchenna Orji, the Minister of Works, David Umahi finalised discussions with investors from the Netherlands to obtain the grant for the construction of priority bridges in the country.
He said the grant is pending final discussion with Janson Bridging International, Netherlands, and documentation processes with the Ministry of Finance.
The statement read, “The Minister of Works, David Umahi has finalised discussions with investors from the Netherlands to attract a grant of €25m for the construction of priority bridges in Nigeria.”
Continuing, the Minister assured the team of the positive disposition of the Federal Government towards accessing international interventions from donor agencies and other development partners to address the infrastructural deficits inhibiting economic development in Nigeria.
He added that an increase in partnerships and collaborations was necessary to support the funding of the critical sector of the economy for the promotion of robust and equitable economic growth adding that once due diligence was carried out, a proposal will be presented to the President for approval.
He said, “We have a number of projects that we can do together. But I think the best thing to do is to conclude this one, which is a grant, then get the process started, and at the point of agreement and project selection, we shall refer to Mr. President for his approval”
In his remarks, the Nigerian Ambassador to the Netherlands said the team came to discuss the offer of a grant by Janson Bridging International for investment in road infrastructure in Nigeria.
According to him, “Janson Bridging is the largest modular bridge manufacturing and bridging company in continental Europe and the largest bridge rental company in the world. ”
He promised to assist in fast-tracking the agreement implementation process on the side of the company as soon as all formalisations were concluded.
On his part, a member of the team and International Business Consultant, Eric Okunde said the investors were ready and technically prepared to work with the Federal Ministry of Works in the mapping and design of the projects as well as the formulation of the template for the execution of the project.
In the 2024 budget, the government said it would spend N837bn on constructing and rehabilitating 2,254 roads and bridges in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years across the country to improve the nation’s deteriorating road infrastructure.
Despite this funding, the state of highways remains poor and in need of extra sources of funding.
The Ministry of Works has also stated that it is engaging concessionaires and other private sector organisations to secure investments in the construction of 35,000km of federal road networks.
