President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria needs $1.5 trillion (the equivalent of N615.630 trillion) over a ten-year period to achieve an appreciable level of the National Infrastructure Stock.
He said this on Tuesday in Glasgow at a COP 26 high-level side event on improving global infrastructure hosted by President Joe Biden of the United States, EU Commission President, Von Der Leyen and the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
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Buhari said: ‘‘Nigeria is ready for your investments in infrastructural development in the country.
‘‘My administration has established a clear legal and regulatory framework for private financing of infrastructure to establish a standard process, especially on the monitoring and evaluation process. We look forward to working with you in this regard.’’
He said his administration had taken infrastructure expansion in Nigeria seriously, conscious of the fact that new investments in critical sectors of the economy would aid lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.
‘‘There’s a nexus between infrastructure development and the overall economic development of a nation.
‘‘My administration identified this early enough as a major enabler of sustainable economic development and the realization of other continental and global development aspirations particularly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.
‘‘On my assumption of office in 2015, Nigeria faced a huge infrastructure deficit and the total National Infrastructure Stock was estimated at 35% of our Gross Domestic Product.
‘‘In solving these problems, we embarked on a massive infrastructure expansion programme in the areas of healthcare, education, transportation, manufacturing, energy, housing, agriculture and water resources.
‘‘We provided more financial resources for these policies, charted new international partnerships and pursued liberalization policies to allow private sector participation,” he said.
Buhari welcomed the G7 countries for their ground-breaking plan to mobilise hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure investment for low – and middle-income countries.
He noted that the “Build Back Better World” plan, an initiative of the G7 countries, was expected to be a values-driven, high-standard, and transparent infrastructure partnership.
‘‘It’s our fervent hope and expectations that this plan will be pursued to its logical conclusion in order to bridge the infrastructural gap between the North and South.”
Earlier, while delivering his national statement at COP26 Leaders’ Summit, Buhari said Nigeria would cut its emissions to net zero by 2060.
