By OKEOGHENE AKUBUIKE

Dr. Jobson Ewelafor, Director-General (D?G), Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has assured investors that Nigeria is open for business and partnership.

Ewelafor said this at the Nigeria Public Private Partnership (PPP) Summit hosted by the ICRC in Abuja on Tuesday.

The two-day summit has the theme ?Unlocking Nigeria?s Potential: The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda.?

Ewelafor said the summit aimed to unlock new investment opportunities and drive economic growth, positioning Nigeria at the forefront of PPPs.?

?Let me assure our local and international investors: Nigeria is open for business ? and more importantly, ready for partnership.

?With over 200 million people, a growing middle class, rich natural endowments, and an enormous infrastructure gap estimated at over 2.3 trillion dollars, the case for PPPs in Nigeria is not only compelling, it is urgent.

?At the ICRC, we are aligning regulation with facilitation, compliance with collaboration.

He said the ICRC was committed to ensuring that every PPP transaction was not just legally sound, but economically viable and socially impactful.

?The Commission stands ready to walk this journey with all partners ? from project conceptualization to financial close and beyond.?

Ewelafor stated that this was made possible with the full support of President Bola Tinubu, who tasked the commission with accelerating investment in national infrastructure through the innovative mobilization of private-sector funding.

He said President Tinubu had taken deliberate steps to strengthen the ICRC, endorsing streamlined processes that enhance the commission?s ability to deliver PPPs faster and more efficiently.

?In 2024, he directed that all MDAs must comply strictly with the ICRC Act and Guidelines in all PPP transactions, a clear statement of his commitment to rule-based, transparent infrastructure development.

Ewelafor said President Tinubu had also preserved the integrity of the ICRC regulatory mandate by never interfering with its processes but rather routinely directing prospective investors and partners to engage directly with the ICRC.

?This presidential support is enabling us to fast-track critical national projects, including the Dasin Hausa Dam in Adamawa State.

?A life-saving infrastructure that will mitigate the perennial devastation caused by water released from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.?

The D?G said the summit was more than an event but a rallying call for transformation, a platform for strategic convergence, and a bridge between national aspirations and tangible development.

?As we deliberate, I urge us all to be bold in our ideas, deliberate in our engagements, and patriotic in our resolve.

?The work of nation-building is neither ceremonial nor convenient but it is urgent, it is collective, and it is ours, ?he urged. (NAN)

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