ICRC: Nigeria to rake in N647.7bn from railway, hydropower projects approved for concessioning

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says the four projects approved for concessioning by the federal executive council (FEC), will attract N647.7 billion in revenue to Nigeria.

The commission spoke in a statement signed by Ifeanyi Nwoko, its acting head of media and publicity, on Friday. 

Nwoko said the projects include the 360 megawatt (MW) Gurara II multipurpose dam and hydropower plant (HPP) as well as the 40 MW Kashimbilla HPP. 

Both projects will be concessioned under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, he said. 

Others, according to the statement, are the secure e-ticketing solutions for the Lagos-Ibadan and Warri-Itakpe rail services, as well as the device management system (DMS), a project by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

“The approvals by FEC will bring about the generation of 400MW of electricity, infusion of private sector funds into the nation’s economic/infrastructure development, and a total revenue generation of N647.7 billion,” Nwoko said. 

“It will also help in the fight against crime, terrorism, and insecurity while improving the effectiveness of the rail services on the specified routes.”

GURARA II, KASHIMBILLA HPP PROJECTS

The commission said the 360MW Gurara II HPP is a greenfield project which would adopt a build, operate, maintenance, and transfer PPP model.

Nwoko explained that the project would be executed by Messrs CGCOC Group Co. Limited under an engineering procurement and construction contract for a concession period of 30 years.

The commission’s media representative said the dam, HPP, and other complementary infrastructure would be executed within a concession period of 30 years.

“Within the concession period, a total revenue generation of 875 million dollars is expected,” he said. 

Speaking on the Kashimbilla 40MW HPP, he said the FEC’s approval was for the operations and maintenance of the hydropower plant.

Nwoko explained that one of the primary objectives of the dam was to mitigate the environmental disaster associated with overflow of flood water, in various downstream states affecting more than six million people.

“These states include Taraba, Benue, Kogi, Delta, Cross River and Bayelsa,” the acting spokesperson said. 

E-TICKETING SOLUTIONS, DMS 

Nwoko added that the DMS, which was granted by the NCC, aimed to provide a single control point for complete device management for mobile communication devices in Nigeria.

“Specifically, the proposed DMS will support capabilities for tracking of mobile communication devices to eliminate fake and substandard devices,” he said. 

The system, he said, adopts “a design, build, finance, operate, maintain, and manage PPP model for a concession period of 10 years at a cost of 26 million dollars”. 

“A total revenue generation of N86.6 billion,” he said. 

TheCable had reported that the FEC approved the provision of a secure e-ticketing solution for the Lagos-Ibadan and the Warri-Itakpe railway corridors.

Giving further details, Nwoko said the Lagos-Ibadan concession was approved at a cost of N1.1 billion. 

“A total of N112.8 billion will be generated from this project,” he added. 

He noted that the Warri-Itakpe counterpart would be executed at the cost of over N860 million, and an estimated revenue of about “N63.3 billion,” will be generated.