The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says it has unveiled a model Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement aimed at attracting private capital and accelerating infrastructure delivery, noting that Nigeria needs $100 billion annually to bridge an estimated $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit.

Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr. Oseodion Ewalefoh, disclosed this on Tuesday at a one-day stakeholders’ engagement session on the Model PPP Agreement for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government in Abuja.

According to him, Nigeria would require about $100 billion annually over the next two decades to close the infrastructure gap by 2043, a task he said could not be funded solely from government revenues.

He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu had positioned Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) at the heart of its development strategy under the Renewed Hope Agenda, stressing that mobilising private sector capital, expertise and innovation had become imperative.

“I wish to begin this morning not with a speech, but with a figure: $2.3tn. That is the conservative estimate of Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit today,” Ewalefoh said.

“To close that gap by 2043, Nigeria must mobilise approximately $100bn every year. Government revenue alone, even under the most disciplined fiscal management, cannot bear that weight,” he added.

He noted that for nearly two decades after the enactment of the ICRC Establishment Act in 2005, PPP transactions in Nigeria were negotiated on a project-by-project basis, leading to inconsistencies in risk allocation, dispute resolution mechanisms and contractual provisions.

According to him, the absence of a standard framework resulted in prolonged negotiations, increased transaction costs and reduced investor confidence.
“To address these challenges, the Commission spent almost two years developing a Model PPP Agreement that provides a dependable framework benchmarked against Nigerian laws and global best practices,” he said.

The ICRC boss explained that the model agreement was designed as a reference document rather than a one-size-fits-all template, adding that each project would still require sector-specific structuring and commercial considerations.
Ewalefoh stated that the Commission reviewed existing concessions, engaged legal experts, financial advisers and development partners, and sought inputs from investors and lenders before finalising Version 1.0 of the model agreement.

He said the agreement contains provisions on conditions precedent, insurance, force majeure, changes in law, default and termination arrangements, adding that “Every adapted agreement must be returned to the ICRC for statutory review, not as a bureaucratic hurdle, but as a safeguard for the MDAs, the Government and the Nigerian public.”

Also speaking, Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Beatrice Jedy-Agba, said the Ministry played a critical role in strengthening the legal foundations of the framework.

She said legal experts worked extensively on provisions relating to dispute resolution, sovereign obligations, liability and contractual safeguards to ensure the interests of the Federal Government were adequately protected.

Jedy-Agba called on stakeholders to actively participate in refining the framework, noting that their contributions would help build a more transparent, accountable and investor-friendly PPP ecosystem.