By William Jimoh
Former Chairman of the Interim National Government (ING) Dr. Ernest Shonekan, has called for a deeper Public Private Partnership, PPP, to improve infrastructure development in the country
He described it as an effort that will increase private investment while solving unemployment problem in Nigeria.
Shonekan stated this while delivering a keynote address at the 2nd edition of the Nigeria Leadership Summit held in Lagos.
He noted the alarming state of infrastructure development in the country, saying this has negatively affected cost of doing business in Nigeria, which has also reduced the strength of new and existing entrepreneurs to fast track the development of the county.
According to him, “Infrastructure is a big challenge to entrepreneurship in the country. The epileptic electric power supply and poor public supply of treated water means that entrepreneurs investing in the manufacturing sector must also bear additional cost of having their own standby electric power supply and bore holes. Such additional expenses often make locally ‘made products uncompetitive with their imported versions.
“Nigeria is a land of opportunities waiting for entrepreneurs to unlock them. Apart from the usual oil and gas sector, there are lots of untapped business opportunities in the agro-allied sector, solid minerals, entertainment industry, technology, telecom sector and a host of others where the country has comparative advantage.
Speaking further, Shonekan said “At the same time, the government and the private sector would need to partner more than before to improve the conditions of the existing infrastructure in the country. In particular, the government should give more opportunity for private sector involvement in the development of infrastructure particularly roads, rail lines, ports development and electric power plants, among other critical infrastructure.
He added that, “In particular, both the government and all stakeholders concerned must team up to ensure that corruption is wiped out in the country. Investors shun countries where there is corruption more so because it increases the cost of doing business and also truncates the laws for doing business.”
“Also, all hands must be on the deck to increase employment opportunities in the country and improve the quality of life of the people. Again, by involving the private sector in the development of the economy, more jobs will be created and there will be improvement in the standard of living of the people,” he urged. “The recent privatization in the electric power sector is bound to improve and stabilize power supply across the country and also encourage more entrepreneurs to invest in the sector.
“This is because government alone does not have all the resources needed for the development of the economy. A~ the same time, the private sector can· pull more resources together than the government for investment in the economy” Shonekan noted .
Source : vanguard
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