The Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has sought collaboration with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) on infrastructure development.
National President of NACCIMA, Ide Udeagbala who led a delegation to the ICRC office, said its members were interested in contributing to the nation’s infrastructure development.
This was contained in a statement signed by the ICRC Ag. Head, Media and Publicity, Manji Yarling and made available to Channel Network Afrique, CNA, in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.
He said the association was interested in the pace of development in Nigeria, especially in the power and energy sector, adding that the body was willing to contribute to bridge infrastructure gaps.
“The aim of our visit today is to explore ways and lay a foundation for possible cooperation between our organisations on sectors that are of interest to our members.
“The sectors include: Infrastructure, power and energy, these sectors remain key assets to the growth and development of any economy,” he said.
He said that the Organised Private Sector (OPS) was interested in contributing to infrastructure development in the country, stressing that government could deploy PPPs for such developments, particularly in the power and energy sector.
He said that NACCIMA was a body of all chambers of commerce across Nigeria, with activities spanning across the various sectors of the economy and is at the forefront of advocacy for policies to promote the interest of private sector.
Udeagbala used the opportunity of the visit to congratulate the ICRC DG Michael Ohiani on his appointment and confirmation as substantive Director General.
“On behalf of the council and the entire members of the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment.
“Your appointment is an evidence of the Public and Private sectors’ faith in your inspirational leadership and ability to pilot the affairs of the Commission.
The President of NACCIMA used the opportunity of the visit to name and decorate Ohiani as an Ambassador of NACCIMA.
Earlier, the DG of ICRC Ohiani, while welcoming the NACCIMA delegation said that the collaboration with NACCIMA was a welcome development as it would be a mutually beneficial cooperation.
He explained to the group that the ICRC was set up by an Act in 2005, to regulate all government processes of infrastructure development using the Public Private Partnership Model.
In a presentation to the team, the ICRC pointed out that the federal governments National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025 proposes an expenditure of N348 trillion out of which it can only afford N49.7 trillion across the three tiers of government.
The remaining N298 trillion is expected to come from the private sector, hence the need for private sector collaboration.
