…As AfDB assures Nigeria of $3trn funding for infrastructure***

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday injected it’s weekly $210 million into the inter-bank Foreign Exchange market to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the market.

The gesture enabled the Naira to continue to stabilise in the foreign exchange market, exchanging at an average of N360 to a dollar in the Bureau De Change segment of the market.

CBN acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okoroafor who confirmed this, noted that $100 million was offered to authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market; the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got $55 million while another $55 million was allocated for tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA).

He said that the apex bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.

According to him, the CBN will not renege on its promise to manage the foreign exchange market with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halt the depletion of its foreign reserves.

It will be recalled that on July 03, the CBN intervened to the tune of 210 million dollars to cater for requests in the wholesale segment of the market.

Meanwhile, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has assured it would assist the Nigerian government to bridge its infrastructure gap estimated to cost about $3 trillion in the next 26 years.

The Senior Director, AfDB Nigeria, Mr Ebrima Faal, said this at the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Road show on Tuesday in Abuja.
Faal said the AIF idea came from the reality that the government alone could not finance the infrastructure gap in the country which made it difficult to achievr sustainable development.

“Indeed, over the last decade, and despite impressive growth rates in most of the continent, Africa’s infrastructure needs remain formidable with annual financing gap between 130 and 107 billion dollars annually.
“Nigeria’s infrastructure cumulative financing needs are estimated to reach 3 trillion dollars by 2044 or about 100 billion dollars annually.
“This is all happening at a time when public sector finances are extremely pressured.
“There is therefore a critical need to change the current funding mix and create partnerships to finance infrastructure and other projects in Africa,” he said.

To this end, Faal said the AfDB planned to assist Nigeria put together a pipeline of bankable projects ahead of the Africa Investment Forum coming up in November 7 to 9 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He said the bank, working with multilateral institutions and the private sector, would help Nigeria to develop investment-ready projects for investors, fund managers and others at the forum in South Africa.

“The African Development Bank is committed to the development of effective public-private-partnerships and has been developing new innovative financing programmes, instruments and partnerships.
“This is to facilitate the financing and construction of critical infrastructure on the continent.
“The AIF is an investment market place that aims to showcase key projects currently under development and assess how those projects will be financed, operated and delivered successfully to maximise efficiency and project success,” he said.
Also, Ms Stella Kilonzo, a Senior Director at the AfDB in charge of the African Investment Forum, said through the forum the bank aimed to de-risk investments in Africa.
She said at the moment, Nigeria and Africa at large, struggled to attract significant capital due to poor preparation and packaging of project proposals, limited availability of tools for credit enhancement and risk coverage among others.
She said in Nigeria, the bank would fast track the Sustainable Development Goals by developing bankable projects in the agricultural, energy and infrastructure sectors, among others.
Meanwhile, the Co-ordinator, Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) Mr Folarin Alayande, said the Federal Government had identified key priority projects that would spur sustainable growth in the country.

He said to deliver fast results on mobilising private investments and job creation, the investment focus of the country was in the areas of agriculture and transportation, manufacturing and processing, power and gas supply.

To this end, he said Nigeria would require about 22.5 billion dollars of investment commitments by year 2020 to cover 164 projects, spread over six geo political zones.