Firm To Invest $172bn In Nigeria’s Infrastructure, Energy, Real Estate, Mining

Backbone Infrastructure Nigeria Limited has announced that it will invest $172 billion in Nigeria to develop various infrastructure sectors.

According to a statement issued by the multinational company on Saturday, this investment will be allocated to the mineral resources, energy, agriculture, housing, and transportation sectors over the next 22 years using alternative financing options.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has publicly reaffirmed its commitment to increasing foreign direct investment inflows into the country, as well as promoting alternative financing for critical infrastructure projects.

Doris Aniete, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, announced last year that the government had secured $30 billion in commitments from foreign investors.

Despite this, Nigeria still requires investments to close a $3 trillion infrastructure gap over a 30-year period, according to the National Integrated Master Plan.

Henry Owonka, the Group CEO, stated that the company is seeking approval for a joint venture model to facilitate its planned investment in the country with foreign partners.

Owonka emphasised that the company intends to align with the current administration’s infrastructure plan, arguing that a consistent influx of investment, as proposed by the company, is preferable to isolated investments by other investors, particularly in the mining sector.

He stated: “What we are looking for is a way to structure our investment programme; we are not looking for a sovereign guarantee that will deplete the country’s foreign reserves, but rather innovative ways to collateralize the abundant natural resources. The president has verbally granted our request.

“The company expressed interest in investing in a variety of commodities.” We are seeking approval for a joint venture model in order to attract more investors from both within and outside of the country. Because forming a joint venture with the government is preferable to simply granting us land.”

The CEO stated plans for the mining sector, noting that the company is ready to invest $4 billion “to explore mineral resources, but we need data, and that is also one of the offers we proposed so that we can bring in our expertise and help the government obtain accurate data, and then we can explore those minerals.” This collaboration will aid the government’s strategy to reduce reliance on crude oil. We are doing this across all ministries because it is a $172 billion investment drive.

Clement Kwegyir-Afful, Chief Operations Officer at the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, explained during a presentation that the investment drive is intended to close the country’s massive infrastructure gap.

He stated that the current administration is seeking several private-sector investments to help close the infrastructure gap. The NBIL has formed a team to assist the government in meeting this mandate in the absence of a sovereign guarantee.

“We want to help close the energy gap through the use of renewables, so one of our subsidiaries is focused on renewables and how we can do so. We will implement innovative funding methods through financier engineering to address the infrastructure gap.”

The statement also stated: “Minerals exploration is one area that the government wishes to use to diversify its revenue streams away from oil, and it is a strong area on which we intend to concentrate. It will generate a new form of revenue.

“To do this, we will need a lot of money, so we plan to invest $172 billion over the next 22 or 23 years. If you break this down yearly, it equates to $6 billion in investment out of the numerous numbers sought by the president.

“We have divided our project into phases; the first will have the greatest impact on Nigeria’s landscape, so we are looking at hospitals, renewable energies, mineral exploration and exportation because those are areas where we have major concerns, as well as some deep sea ports,” he said.