Nigeria To Receive €25m Netherlands’ Grant For Construction Of Bridges

The federal government has finalised discussions with investors from The Netherlands to attract a grant of €25 million for the construction of priority bridges in Nigeria.

Speaking after a meeting which also had in attendance the Nigerian ambassador to The Netherlands, Oluremi Oliyide, the minister of Works, David Umahi, said it was part of the government’s disposition to thinking outside the box.

He assured the team that the federal government was interested in accessing international interventions from donor agencies and other development partners to address the infrastructural deficits inhibiting economic development in Nigeria.

Umahi, a statement in Abuja from his spokesman, Uchenna Orji, noted that an increase in partnerships and collaborations were necessary to support the funding of the critical sector of the economy for the promotion of a robust  and equitable economic growth.

He assured the investors that once due diligence  was carried out, he would present  the proposal to President Bola Tinubu for approval.

“We have a number of projects that we can do together. But I think the best thing to do is to conclude this one, which is a grant, then get the process  started.

“And at the point of agreement and project selection, we shall refer to Mr.  President for  his approval,” the minister stated.

In his earlier  remarks, the Nigerian ambassador  to The Netherlands, Oliyide, said the team was  in his office to discuss  the offer of a grant of €25 million  by Janson Bridging  International for investment  in road infrastructure in Nigeria.

“Janson Bridging is the largest modular bridge manufacturing and bridging company in  continental Europe and the largest bridge  rental company in the world,” Oliyide said.

He promised  to assist in fast-tracking the implementation  of the process on the side of the company as soon as all formalities were concluded.

On his own part, a member of the team and international Business Consultant, Eric Okunde, said the investors were ready with the proposal  and that they  were technically  prepared  to work  with the federal ministry of works in the mapping  and design  of the projects as well as the formulation of the template for the execution of the project.

Meanwhile, Umahi as well as the Senate Committee on Finance have re-affirmed their commitment to continuing with the implementation of the tax credit scheme as contained in Executive Order 07 issued by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

He was speaking at the end of the interactive session between the committee chaired by Senator Mohammed Musa, the federal ministry of works and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) on the funding of critical roads.

“We have not initiated new projects, because the president has not granted permission to do that,” he added.

Umahi, according to a statement from the Director of Information at the ministry, Olusola Abiola, noted that there was the challenge of inadequate funding, especially the non-release of funds by the NSIA as expected, for the implementation of the scheme.

He said the ministry will actualise the objective of the scheme and announced that starting from next March, the ministry would begin publishing details on ongoing projects.

He said: “I can assure you that from the month of March, we will be publishing in the dailies the cost of projects, progress made for that month and other necessary information.”

In his own remarks, Musa disclosed the support of the committee for the scheme, stating that the objectives of the scheme were commendable.

While lauding the initiative and the need to sustain the scheme, he averred that the Senate was not against the continuous implementation of the scheme.

“The committee will recommend to the Senate to pause that initial agreement between the ministry and NSIA. Then the NSIA can now concentrate more on other investments. Let them leave the issue of road projects because road project is an emergency and requires emergency attention.

“I want to appeal to the federal ministry of works to seriously look at the issue of funding. On the side of the Senate, I hope we will be able to do everything to get funding for the projects,” he assured.

Emmanuel Addeh