The Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamusdeen Usman, yesterday painted a gloomy picture of the challenges facing the country.
Usman disclosed that the country needed $2.9 trillion to close the infrastructure gap over the next 30 years.
The minister, who is also the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, NPC, made the disclosure at the South- West validation workshop on the draft National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, NIIMP, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Usman, who spoke through the Secretary to NCP, Ntufam Fidelis Ugbo, said the amount was the required investment to close infrastructure gap between 2014 and 2044.
According to him, the country currently spends between $9 billion and $10 billion per annum on infrastructure.
The 30-year NIIMP plan, Usman said, would cut across various sectors of the economy and accelerate economic activities for the teeming populace with infrastructure investments per zone increasing to 2,900 as against the current 10 infrastructure investment level.
The minister added that NIIMP became necessary in view of the country's huge infrastructure gap, which had slowed down economic growth, reduced the impact of efforts in reducing poverty and unemployment and made life more difficult for Nigerians.
At the workshop which had stakeholders from the six states in the South-West zone in attendance, Usman listed benefits of NIIMP to include enhanced economic growth, prioritised projects and programmes, efficient allocation of resources, enabling environment for investors, positive externalities and investors guide.
He added that the bottom line would be to build strong and inclusive growth and create jobs for Nigerians. Also speaking at the workshop, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State said infrastructure was key driver of economic growth and development and an enabler of competitiveness.
He said it was expected that the build-up in infrastructure capacity would be driven mainly by private capital through Public Private Partnership, PPP, arrangement guided by the approved national policy on PPP. Ajimobi, who spoke through his deputy, Otunba Moses Alake Adeyemo, said his administration, through its transformation agenda, was determined to ensure economic growth, employment and wealth creation, as well as create an enabling environment for investment.
He said: "To achieve these goals, the state government focuses its attention on human capital development, healthcare and skill acquisition, wealth creation and poverty alleviation, infrastructure and urban renewal, development of agriculture and agri-business, rural development and integration, security of lives and property."
