Stakeholders in the finance industry have urged the private sector to assist the Federal Government’s drive to finance the lack of infrastructure in the country.
Over the weekend they spoke in lagos at the annual conference of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) in Lagos with the theme: ‘Financing Infrastructure & SMEs for inclusive growth in the post-COVID-19 economy
Ms Patience Oniha the Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), decleared that government alone cannot remit the country’s infrastructural needs, as the funds are not available.
She said “There must be creative ways of opening up the system to enable us to bring the private sector, where we can pool the capital to fund infrastructure. That has started with what we are doing with the road clean-up infrastructure with Dangote trying to take care of some roads. Some other private sector players will enjoy tax incentive to encourage them to participate, bearing in mind that the government alone cannot do it,”
Oniha who was represented by Joe Ugoala, Director, Operational & Research Department at DMO, however, noted that there is room for more borrowing to finance infrastructure, stressing that investors have a huge interest in the country’s infrastructure development.
Dr. Waheed Olagunju former acting managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI) called on the government and the private sector to boost the capacity of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector.
“We need to build the capacity of our people; government and the organised private sector have a role to play. I believe that the government and private sector development partnership will help.” he said.
ALSO READ
