BPE, UK agency sign agreement on PPP projects

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has signed an agreement with United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF) to enable the agency deliver infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

This is contained in a statement signed by Amina Othman, head of public communications at BPE, in Abuja on Sunday.

UKNIAF is a technical assistance programme that helps the federal government with potential support to sub-national governments and aims to improve the delivery and management of Nigeria’s infrastructure.

Alex Okoh, BPE director-general, said UKNIAF’s support will enable appropriate screening and selection of projects that promote inclusiveness, climate-smart, reduce poverty and are potentially bankable.

Okoh said the agreement is the aftermath of the federal government’s policy on administration of concession in Nigeria, removing ambiguity and providing clarity on institutional responsibilities for PPP programmes in the country.

“The Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are to identify projects, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning is to screen and approve in line with the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) and Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) documents while BPE is the project or transaction implementation agency.”

He said UKNAIF identified critical areas in which BPE would provide institutional and human capacity-building support.

According to the statement, the areas include: integrating national and global social sustainability criteria in project preparation and selection; developing PPP project pipeline, producing concept notes, managing the transaction stage of the PPP project delivery lifecycle, etc.

Others are supporting the procurement process for appointment of transaction advisors; supporting where possible, the process of securing project preparation funds from UKNIAF’s panel of PPF fund providers; and providing ongoing support as required, enhancing the capacity of the institution to reach commercial close on projects.

Okoh explained that it was on this basis that UKNIAF sent the bureau a mutual accountability framework (MAF) aimed at “fostering a shared agenda of ensuring aid effectiveness and serves to clearly state the roles of each party, their responsibilities and their commitment to working collaboratively”.

The statement read that both BPE and UKNIAF constituted a project steering committee (PSC) and a project delivery team.

In January 2021, the federal government had said it was in talks to partner with UKNIAF in transforming critical power infrastructure projects including power sector policy and tariff reforms; distribution companies (DisCos) audit; grid efficiency and sustainable off-grid renewable solutions