The Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Jobson Ewalefoh, called on West African governments to embrace Public-Private Partnerships as a critical strategy for closing the region’s widening infrastructure gap.
He warned that public resources alone can no longer finance the roads, railways, housing, water systems and other essential projects needed to drive economic growth.
Speaking during a panel session at the ECOWAS Infrastructure Forum held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, he said the continent requires between $130bn and $170bn annually to meet its infrastructure needs but faces a financing shortfall of about $68bn to $108bn every year.
The deficit has continued to constrain economic growth, regional trade and industrialisation, with inadequate transport networks, unreliable electricity supply, poor water infrastructure and limited housing remaining major challenges across many African countries.
The ICRC boss noted that the enormous infrastructure deficit confronting countries across West Africa has made it imperative for governments to partner more closely with the private sector, describing PPPs as the most sustainable model for mobilising long-term investment and improving infrastructure delivery.
He stated that there is significant opportunity to expand the pipeline of projects through properly regulated unsolicited proposals initiated by private investors which allows private firms to identify infrastructure needs, undertake project development at their own expense and bear the associated risks, thereby reducing the financial burden on governments
