The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh, has announced plans by the Federal Government to unveil a new pipeline of eligible Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects aimed at attracting both local and international investors into Nigeria’s infrastructure sector.
Ewalefoh disclosed this on Wednesday, 13 May, 2026 while delivering a goodwill message at the 2026 Infrastructure Dialogue held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, warning that Nigeria’s widening infrastructure gap now stands at an alarming $2.3 trillion.
According to him, the country urgently requires innovative financing models and stronger private sector participation to address infrastructure deficits across transportation, energy, ICT, agriculture, aviation, and housing sectors.
He revealed that Nigeria currently requires about $100 billion annually for infrastructure development, while public spending accounts for less than 30 per cent of the funding requirement.
“Traditional procurement models and dwindling budgets are no longer enough. To bridge this gap, the mobilisation of private capital is not just an option — it is an absolute necessity,” Ewalefoh stated.
The ICRC boss explained that the Federal Government had strategically embraced Public-Private Partnerships as a practical solution to bridge the huge financing shortfall, describing PPPs as critical tools for infrastructure renewal, economic growth, and poverty reduction.
He said the 2026 Infrastructure Dialogue, organised by Deutsche Partners Holding and its partners, was particularly important because it focused on moving “from diagnosis to execution” by exploring sustainable financing mechanisms capable of unlocking long-term capital for infrastructure delivery.
According to him, discussions around the role of Development Finance Institutions, Sukuk financing, green bonds, and pension assets are crucial to securing affordable infrastructure funding.
Ewalefoh stressed that the ICRC remained committed to strengthening Nigeria’s PPP ecosystem through reforms designed to improve investor confidence, build bankable project pipelines, and accelerate project implementation.
He recalled that during the 2025 Nigeria PPP Summit hosted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stakeholders reaffirmed the central role of PPPs in delivering the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda and addressing Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit over the next 23 years.
The ICRC Director-General further disclosed that the commission introduced revised PPP guidelines in August 2025 following presidential approval to improve transparency, accelerate infrastructure delivery, and attract private capital.
Under the new framework, ministries can now approve PPP projects worth up to ₦20 billion, while agencies and parastatals can approve projects up to ₦10 billion without seeking Federal Executive Council approval.
Projects above the thresholds or involving multiple agencies would still require FEC approval.
According to Ewalefoh, the decentralisation of approval powers is already helping Ministries, Departments and Agencies deliver projects faster while maintaining transparency and accountability.
He also announced that the commission, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice and PPP experts, plans to unveil a model PPP agreement in June 2026 aimed at shortening transaction timelines and accelerating commercial and financial closure of projects.
“In order to provide relevant guidance to the investing community, we intend to publish in the near future a pipeline of eligible projects for investments in Nigeria’s PPP sphere,” he added.
Ewalefoh expressed optimism that the dialogue would strengthen collaboration between government, investors, development finance institutions, and the private sector toward building sustainable economic resilience and infrastructure-driven growth in Nigeria.
