. . . As DG, Marine and Blue Economy Minister meet

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has said that it will pursue to logical conclusion all Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects that have long been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC)but are yet to commence. The Director General of the Commission Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh disclosed this on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the Honorable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola.

The DG informed the Minister that some of the pioneer PPP projects approved as far back as 2006 were under the purview of the ministry. He informed the Minister that the Commission is working at re-evaluating such PPPs to ensure that contractors without the wherewithal do not hold the country to ransom even when serious investors are willing to invest and partner with the government.

He stated that the Commission had come to ascertain the challenges affecting PPP projects in the Ministry to review and ascertain the issues inhibiting projects already approved and those in the pipeline in view of the importance of the Maritime sector to the development and growth of any nation.

He informed the Minister that the ICRC had in response to the charge by Mr. President on the need to proactively adopt PPPs in the delivery of infrastructure by the administration streamlined the processes to accelerate project delivery to align with the demand of the times. This he stated is to ensure that projects are delivered faster than ever without compromising standard or circumventing the law. He said that while the Commission was striving to commence new PPP projects, it was also working to effectively optimize the existing ones.

He confirmed that in a bid to ensure that projects are not stalled due to the inability of proponents to raise the required financing required to execute projects, the Commission has adopted the concept of attaining project effectiveness after project execution by introducing Conditions Precedent through timelines for the achievement of financial close for the private partners. This ensures that contracts are automatically terminated when the timeline agreed expires without the private partner achieving financial close.

This approach is intended to protect the country and ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated and government is never held to ransom. This he said will ensure that only credible investors are encouraged to participate, while discouraging portfolio investors or expert bidders without the actual intention of executing projects. He urged the Minister to partner the Commission to re-evaluate all PPP projects that have been approved by FEC for more than a year without any appreciable progress.

In his response, the Minister congratulated the DG on his appointment, he stated that most of the projects that had stalled were due to lack of access to financing due to the lack of capacity of the private parties. He stated that he has held meetings with some of the project proponents and discovered that financing is the main challenge.

He advised that there is need to ensure that only investors that have proven capacity to finance projects are brought on board in the future and not just entities with beautifully prepared business cases.

He assured the DG of the full support of the Ministry in accelerating PPP in the blue economy, adding that there were already a couple of new projects which will be sent to the ICRC to begin the PPP process.