Private sector participation critical to development of Niger Delta, says expert

Uche Igwe, a renowned political economist and visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has underscored the importance of private sector participation in the development of the Niger delta region.

He said this at the Murtala Mohammed International airport Lagos on his arrival for the forthcoming Niger Delta Public- Private Participation (PPP) summit scheduled to hold in Lagos on the 25th of April at Eko Hotel and Suites.

According to him the level of infrastructural deficit in the Niger Delta have become utterly embarrassing that a state of emergency need to be declared.

After the devastating impact of the flooding last year, many roads including the East West road were washed away. It will take billions of naira to fix. Without excusing government, this is a time for the private sector to come into partnership to rescue the situation, he noted.

He further highlighted that the unavoidable implication of energy transition due to climate change has led to fossil fuel companies divesting away from their traditional areas of oil and gas and also moving away to deep offshore locations.

These developments, according to him has implications of the revenue flow of organisations like the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) whose funding is partly derived from the budget of fossil fuel companies operating in the region.

“Such agencies need to urgently reform themselves by thinking smart and seeking for innovative partnerships in order to remain financially resilient to sustainably deliver on their mandate”, he stated.

Igwe commended the executive management of NDDC led by Samuel Ogbuku for putting together the summit and expressed optimism that it will set the stage for generating the necessary interest among private sector operators in the country and beyond to come and partner to close the infrastructural gaps in the region.

Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Boad will be providing a key note speech at the event.

The summit will be featuring other prominent international experts including Oliver Everett, former Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, Johnson Kilangi, Co-Chair of the PPP Finance Forum and Janita Ferentinos among others.