Stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime sector have been urged by the Bureau of Public Enterprises to suggest and identify projects in the sector for Public-Private Partnership as it has been entrusted with PPP responsibilities by the Federal Government.
This was made public by the Director-General of BPE, Mr Alex Okoh in a webinar hosted by Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce on “Public-Private Partnership as alternative financing model in the maritime sector” on Friday.
Okoh cited Nigeria’s port concessions, disclosing that revenue from the sector had doubled in ten years since the implementation of the concessions.
He called for more Maritime PPP related projects as the FG had given the BPE the mandate to work with private stakeholders on projects through the PPP model.
“The Bureau of Public Enterprises has been entrusted with a significant part of the PPP responsibilities in Nigeria through the Federal Government’s circular of September 2020.
“What this means in effect is that players in the country’s maritime and other key sectors of the economy can identify and suggest projects to the government through the BPE or relevant MDAs,” he said.
“Once these projects are examined, approval will be given to the relevant parties to undertake an appraisal, feasibility study or outline of business case, which will be scrutinised by the government. Thereafter, a tender will be published.
“The benefit of this is that the originator of the project will be allowed to provide a matching offer with that of the highest bidder and if the party is able to match this offer, they will be declared the preferred bidder,” he added
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the reappointment of Mr Alexander Ayoola Okoh as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), for a second 4-year tenure with effect from April 10, 2021.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is charged with the overall responsibility of implementing the Nigerian policy on privatization and commercialization.
Established under the provisions of the Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act of 1999, through its secretariat, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) was charged with driving the Federal Government’s programme of privatising public enterprises, carrying out sector reforms and liberalization of key economic sectors especially the infrastructure sector.