By PETER EGWUATU

Ernst & Young, a global consulting and business advisory firm, is bringing key stakeholders together to brainstorm in what it believes would help drive infrastructural development in Nigeria through Public Private Partnership arrangement.

This is on the backdrop that infrastructure development has in recent times assumed a central importance in Nigeria’s quest to attain social and economic stability.

More so when it has been globally acknowledged that the deployment of Public- Private Partnership to finance infrastructure development (as obtains in the USA, & India, CIS etc) has become inevitable not only in Nigeria but in most parts of the world, based on the simple reality that government alone cannot muster sufficient resources to meet the developmental needs of any nation.

The seminar, which is billed to hold on May 9, 2012 at the La Cour Hotel, Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, is being put together by Ernst & Young as one of the firm’s contributions to the understanding of Public Private Partnership in Nigeria.

One of the key objectives of the seminar, according to Mr. Bisi Sanda, Partner, Transaction & Advisory Services, Ernst & Young Nigeria, is to identify and bring together key stakeholders of the new but gradually evolving Public Private Partnership landscape in Nigeria.

Mr. Sanda, while providing further reasons for the one-day seminar, explained that the programme aims to promote maximum face-to-face interaction for participants to discuss the features, processes and evaluation of Public Private Partnership in Nigeria, adding that it will engender better understanding and significant reduction in misconception, with a view to bridging the great expectation gaps.

“Public-Private Partnership is a new scheme in Nigeria which if adopted holistically promises to provide great opportunities for improved participation of private sector in solving infrastructural deficit more efficiently, lesser cost and better quality, among others. Government alone cannot drive infrastructural development and this is where PPP as a mechanism for delivering on the infrastructural gap has become necessary. Nigeria is coming a bit late but it is better late than never,” he noted.

To ensure that the Forum achieves the expected dividend, experts from India (Adil Zaidi, & Abhaya Krishna both of whom are Associate Director & Executive Director, Ernst & Young global) as well as Bruce Harvey from South Africa, have been lined up as resource persons.

Presentation will cover various aspects of Public-Private Partnership with key focus on: key features of PPPs, processes, getting value for money in a PPP and risk evaluation and mitigation, among others.