THE GUARDJAN, Tuesday. November 22,2031
BUSINESS 25
Absence of appropriate regulatory * framework stalls PPP By Rcseline Okeia
•THE Initiative for Public IPolicy Analysis (iPPA), the Nigeria-based public policy think-tank, rias identified absence of appropriate regulatory framework as capable of undermining Public Private Partnership (PPP) in infrastructure] development in Nigeria. In its recent studv leleased to The Guardian on Thursday, the group noted that the intention of the all tiers ofgovemments Co address the infrastructure challenges in Nigeria through PPP might not achieve the expected results with the current situation in the country. The organisation also believed that the prevailing regulatory framework and the nature or emerging trends in PPP projects, had diminished the expectations thf.t it might be the ultimatesolu:ion to the infrastructure challenges. The study seated that Dudgetary allocations alone could not be enough to fix infrastructure, therefore the need for additional resources from private sector might be a mirage. The study tagged: " PublicPrivate Partnership: Will It Fix Infrastructure in Nigeria?" Signed by Olusegun Sotola
and Thompson Ayodele, it insisted that the present PPP arrangement was skewed against private sector. A research fellow at 1PPA and a co-authorof die think tank's recent study on the PPP framework in Nigeria, Olusegun Sotola stated: "The PPP arrangement at present is skewed against private sector. It is evident to see public authorities wielding more power and becoming dominant partner.The snag in this 'master-servant' relationship is most PPP arrangements cannot ourlive the administration that initiated them." Although the study agreed that PPP could really help in tackling decrepit infrastructure, it stressed that this could only happen when parties involved in PPP projects equally had shared risks and responsibilities and that lack of expertise on governments side could lead to regulatory capture. He added: "While PPP can address infrastructure challenges, this is achievable when parties involved have equally shared lesponsibilities. However, there is a lacuna in the regulatory framework governing PPP at present This threatens projects executed under the model Aside from
this, given the sophistication of issues involved, governments have limited expertise to effectively regulate. Relying on firms under PPP for expertise may lead to regulatory capture. "Many tiers of governments across the federation do not have PPP enabling law. This tends to suggest that a foundadonal basis for private provision of infrastructure is missing and such pronouncements are without legal basis. "The implication is that states are engaging in projects that could be nullified if challenged in court of law. The absence of this law isa red flag to private seftor and consequently raises fear of what could become of their investments," Sotola said, He stated, that PPP experience in Nigeria was not all gloom and doom. "The adoption has seen some successes. The deregulation of telecom and the concessioning of the second terminal at the local wing of Lagos Airport (MM2) have provided positive outcomes. Though there are still issues within the concessioning arrangement, assessment of these projects show an improvement over what was obtainable before private participation."
IFAD appeals to Niger Delta governors over funding THE I nee rnational Fund for -lAgricuIture Development (IFADVassisted- CommunityBased Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRMP) has appee led to governors of the nine Niger Delta states to pay their counterpart funds promptJy to enable the programme to achieve its goal. Mrs. Irene Jumbo-Ibeakuzie, the national programme coordinator, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Libreville on Sunday. Jurnbo-loeakuzie said that the non-payment of counterpart funds by some of the states was jeopardising the effective implementation o : the programme. The affected state; are Auia, Akwa Ibom, Bavelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo^ Jmo, Ondo and Rivers. She urged, particularly, state governments, which had invested in huge agricultural pro ject, to pa rtn er w th th e programme to ensure that the projects produced maximum results. Jumbo-lbeakuzie cited the Songhai Centre, established by the Rivers Government, as one project that should tteused as a springboard to alleviate poverty in communities Li the state, in partnership with die CBNRMP. The Songhai fa mi in Rivers State, for example is a programme like ours that: they can use to step it down io the rural communities and to the rural farmers, who are well known to us and ata very cheap cost to them. "You can have a large programme but ifyou are not able to step it down, the dividend of that project would riot be fully realised. "So, we appeal to diem to pay their counterpart funds to enable us to create '.vealth and impact on the livelihoods of farmers." The coordinator said that the programme was promoting agriculture as a business venture rather than for5ubsis-
tence, stressing diat ihe era of subsistence fanningwas over. According to her, the payment of counterpart funds would enable the programme to access IFAD funds to be able to implement projects that would create wealth, reduce unemployment and crime as well as stem rural urban migration. Furthermore, she said that it would assist in empowering women to engage in economic
activities that would enhance nadon building. "We are preaching business agriculture in which there is profitability; we want to create wealth through agriculture. "We want to create employment through agriculture and if they pay their counterpart fund, itwill reduce the unemployment rate in the rural area; it will stern rural-urban migration and there will be food basket.
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