By Daniel Idonor
ABUJA—THE Federal Government yesterday emphasised the need for Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, to prioritise projects to be executed to meet up with the funding guidelines by international financial institutions.

Vice President Namadi Sambo stated this during a meeting on the funding of infrastructure in the country.

Sambo said “time is not on our side, we are expecting to have our first visit by the President of African Development Bank, ADB, Mr. Donald Keberuka, on the 23rd of this month.”

The move, according to him, “is in line with our plan to fund some of our infrastructural projects through this financing agencies, it has become expedient to expedite action for their presentation to the Institution.”

He disclosed that the ADB had a three-year cycle of concessional funding and this year‘s fell within the period, adding “we are within the cycle for the Bank to consider our programmes for concessional funding.”

Sambo directed that the documentation of the prioritised projects be made available, for presentation to the ADB president during his visit.

He also advised that the same document to other international financial institutions as the Islamic Development Bank, IDB, World Bank, the European Investment Bank, EIB, Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, and also the Nordic countries.

The projects, he said, included the East-West and the South-West Gas truck lines; East-West Standard Gauge Line; Niger Delta Costal Road, Second Niger Bridge; Benin- Obajana road; Zungeru Hydro Power Project; and Itsi Small Hydropower Dam, among others.

The Vice President, while commending the Infrastructure Concession Regulator Commission, ICRC, for a job well done, further tasked them to include the Yen Credit Facility and the EIB, which had shown readiness to fund projects in the power sector, such as Jebba and the Kainji Hydropower Plants, among the financial institutions to be approached.

Speaking earlier, the Director General of the ICRC, Eng. Mansur Mukhtar, disclosed that the agency had categorised identified projects into completed, ongoing, pre-contract and planned stages.

He said the projects will be funded through regular budget, enhanced budget; bonds; concessionary funds and Public Private Partnerships, PPP.

The already completed projects are Waya Small Hydropower Plant (0.15 megawatts); the Mbowo Small Hydropower Plant ().125 megawatts) and the Gurara Small Hydropower Plant (30 megawatts).

The ongoing projects are Abuja-Lokoja, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and those in Enugu, Kano and Port Harcourt. Other ongoing projects are the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja Kaduna Standard Gauge line.

Projects that are under the Pre-contract category are the Zungeru Hydropower Dam (700 megawatts), the Second Niger Bridge and the Loko-Oweto Bridge.

Those that are at planing stage are the Mambilla Hydropower Plant (2600 megawatts), the Gurara Phase II Hydropower Plant (350 megawatts), Coal Power Plants at Enugu and Benue, Tiga, Dadin Kowa, Chalawa, Itsi, Oyan, Ikere Gorge, Bakori small hydropower plants.

The East-West Standard Gauge Line; Jakuru and Osara access roads, Oza-Nagogo-Agbor-Benin Road, Borom-Nasarawa-Abaji Road and the rehabilitation of Okene-Ajaokuta Road.
Present at the meeting were the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman,

Minister of Finance, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, Minister of State Power, Nuhu Somo Wya, Minister of Works, Sanusi Dagash, Minister of Transport, Yusuf Suleiman and other government functionaries