Infrastructure provision through public-private partnerships: the experience of Nigeria

Abstract

Infrastructure provision is mostly the responsibility of governments using taxpayers’ money through budgetary allocations. However, a growing phenomenon world-wide is the inability of public funds to adequately finance ever-growing infrastructure needs, with serious consequences in developing countries. Although governments in most countries are striving hard towards adequate infrastructure provision, a wide gap still exists in terms of meeting the quantity and quality of infrastructure required for sustainable socio-economic development, principally due to a shortage of public funds (Iboh et al. 2013). Numerous issues persist relating to dwindling resources, variable power supply, inadequate healthcare facilities, poor and insufficient housing, and problems with modes of transport including roads and air, which have become death traps in many developing countries like Nigeria. The appalling state of this infrastructure has given credence to private sector participation in the development of sustainable infrastructure. Other key drivers to the birth of the PPP scheme in the country include the poor economy arising from reduced oil revenue and mismanagement of resources, rising population, and an increased need for infrastructure such as housing, power, transport modes, health and educational facilities.