The country spent the 1990s fighting to restore democratic governance, according to Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), the recently retired Minister of Works, who claimed that most Nigerians still reside on infrastructure constructed in the 1970s and 1980s.
According to the National Infrastructure Master Plan, 2020–2043, he said, the nation will require an estimated $2.3 trillion over the course of the next 21 years to improve its infrastructure.
In a speech titled: “Outlook on the Construction Industry in Nigeria over the Next Five to 10 Years” delivered at the Julius Berger Nigeria Plc “Luminary Soiree” dinner in Lagos, He maintained that the reason an oil-producing nation like Nigeria imports petroleum products is because it lacks essential infrastructure, such as a petroleum refinery.
It is anticipated that around 30% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange requirement is met via imports.
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According to Fashola, a significant impact will occur if the need for foreign exchange is decreased by up to 30% for petroleum items alone, with fertilizer and petrochemicals accounting for an additional 10% of the total.
“If petroleum products are locally made, some cost reductions such as shipping, insurance and port charges will be realised and for those who have a broader view of the economy, they will understand cost-push inflation reduction and its positive impact on cost of living.
“The same is true of gas pipelines, as it is true of sea and airports, roads and bridges, and telecommunications infrastructure to deliver broadband and related infrastructure in support of economic growth and jobs.
“Simply put, every economy that seeks expansion, efficiency, and productivity must invest in the commensurate infrastructure in order to achieve it.
“Nigeria is such a country, and as I have said before, we are living largely on infrastructure built in the 70s and 80s because we spent much of the 90s in the agitation to bring back democratic Governance.
“We have a lot of building and construction to undertake and this much is evident in the latest National Infrastructure Master Plan, 2020 – 2043 estimated about $2.3 Trillion over 21 years, that is about $110 billion per annum,” he stated.
Based on the government master plan, he believes that the construction industry in Nigeria has a very bright future for the next five to ten years and beyond.
“Therefore, very few sectors of the economy such as shipping and petroleum drive the haulage and transport sector of the economy like construction.
“From records of economic impact we kept in the Ministry of Works and Housing, I can report 1,704,300 truck trips of haulage of bitumen, diesel, laterite, sand, cement and reinforcement.
“The average minimum cost of a 30-ton truck was N200,000 per trip. So, from one ministry alone at the federal level, excluding 36 states and FCT, this represents a N340.8 billion haulage economy over 8 years or N42.6 billion per annum.
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“This is the employment of transport companies their employees and drivers, enabled by construction. Drivers were then paid averagely N5,000 – N7,500 per day.
“I can report 383,431 people directly employed in constructing and rehabilitating 9,290 kilometres of roads and bridges, installing 2,270,319 linear metres of lane marking and installing 254,690 road signs.
“I can report 1,262 building contractors employed in the housing sector to construct 6,000units of housing with fittings and accessories at 46 sites across 35 states,” he added.
The Post ‘Nigeria Relying on Infrastructure Constructed in the 1970s, Needing $2.3 Trillion Till 2043 – Fashola’ initially appeared on Tori
