Nigeria needs $35 billion per annum for five years to sustain a robust economic growth, the Managing Director of Infrastructure Bank, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, has said.
Oyinloye, stated this in Abuja in his paper “Economic Indices and Relationship with Infrastructure Development” at a forum for set 1988 Economics Class, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Speaking on the role of infrastructure in economic development, he said capital investments in infrastructure were a reliable avenue for engendering sustainable economic growth and development.
The managing director said “According to the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, NIIMP, Nigeria needs about 35 billion US dollars per annum for a succeeding period of five years to sustain robust economic growth.
Oyinloye noted “That is what we need but we have never gone beyond about 12 billion dollars; so it estimated that the infrastructure funding needs for the next 30 years is in the region of three trillion US dollars.
“The NIIMP relies on empirical data to identify critical linkages between economic growth, sustainability and Infrastructure development.
He noted that developed economies typically record core infrastructure stock and value of about 70 per cent of this stock as proportion of their GDP with power and transportation infrastructure usually accounting for at least half of that total stock volume.
According to him, “In contrast to national benchmark however, Nigeria’s core infrastructure stock is estimated as at today to be around 20 to 25 per cent of our GDP.”
He explained that for emerging and frontier economies, the imperative for governments in terms of infrastructure investments was to attract private participation in infrastructure financing.
Dr. Salamatu Isah, Head of Department of Economics, ABU, said lack of infrastructure had been a major problem in the country, and recalled a recent statistics by the NBS which showed that services and other sectors had the highest rates, while the manufacturing sector had the lowest.
Isah, however, called on the government and relevant authorities to ensure infrastructure development in the country so as to improve the basic standard of living of Nigerians.
