Nigeria would require about $67 billion over the next four years to fill the infrastructural gap in the country towards realising the Vision 2020.
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Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala? who stated this at the Africa Regional Public Private Partnership Conference organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Lagos yesterday, said government was no longer capable of bridging this gap alone hence the need for public private partnership.
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The minister, who was represented by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Nguma, said what was needed was a clear institutional framework for the implementation, management and assessment of PPP projects within government with clear roles for regulation, preparation, assessment, supervision, monitoring and evaluation.
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She admitted that projects take twice as much time in Nigeria than it should normally take due to bureaucratic bottlenecks which were a disincentives.
The minister explained that government was at the point of establishing the public private partnership (PPP) office to fast-track any project collaboration between both sides.
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He said government has already identified four projects across the country that would serve as pilot scheme for the PPP arrangement.
These include the second Niger Bridge, the Abuja International Airport road, the Lagos Ibadan Express Way and the Benin Sagamu Road projects.
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