World Bank to introduce capital market programme to boost infrastructure financing in Nigeria

The World Bank says it is planning to introduce its joint capital markets programme (J-CAP) in Nigeria.

Patricia Canziani, global head of capital markets and housing, financial institutions at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), spoke when she led a World Bank Group delegation to a meeting with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in Abuja.

The IFC is a subsidiary of the World Bank Group.

The J-Cap, a World Bank initiative, helps developing economies strengthen their capital markets, aiming to increase funding for strategic sectors like infrastructure, housing, and agriculture.

According to a statement on Sunday by Ifeanyi Nwoko, acting head of media and publicity at the ICRC, the meeting focused on how to develop and unlock the capital market in Nigeria.

Speaking during the meeting, Canziani said the essence of the meeting was to gather information that would enable the global bank to introduce its the J-CAP in Nigeria.

She said there are a number of untapped interests from potential international investors.

“The purpose of our visit is to introduce the J-CAP programme which we have introduced to 20 countries Worldwide and the purpose of the programme is to work together with the stakeholders in Nigeria and identify ways to support the development and roles of the capital market in Nigeria,” Canziani said.

“The capital market holds many opportunities for funding PPP. The Nigerian capital market already has different products, but we can support the development of newer products in the country.”

Canziani also commended the ICRC for its role in regulating public-private partnerships (PPPs), urging it to work with other players to develop new products and build investor confidence.

UNLOCKING CAPITAL MARKET TO FUND PPP PROJECTS 

On his part, Jobson Ewalefoh, director-general of the ICRC, said the visit of the team was important as it could redefine the space of infrastructure development in Nigeria.

He said alternative finance options like the capital market to fund PPPs are at the heart of his innovative financing policy agenda.

Ewalefoh also said funding is at the core of infrastructure development, hence, unlocking the capital market would be a milestone.

“The World Bank and IFC were here to see what we can do in unlocking the potentials of the capital market in funding infrastructure development,” ICRC DG said.

“We deliberated on the opportunities, the challenges and the importance of having access to the huge funds available in the capital market to fund infrastructure.

“In my deliberation, I focused more on the potential for investors to invest in Nigeria based on the viability and bankability of projects in Nigeria.

“At the end of the day, we agreed that viability is not a problem but there are other risks that investors were weary of and also the lack of information about the opportunities that abound in Nigeria as a key investment destination.”

He, however, urged the global bank to do more in supporting Nigerian government agencies with funds and capacity development to come up with more eligible pipelines of projects.

Ewalefoh said the ICRC would do more to communicate the investment potential of Nigeria, adding that there is a nexus between the investment opportunities in Nigeria and the role the capital market can play in tapping into those potentials.