FG Constitutes Panel for $3tn Infrastructure Masterplan

• FG Constitutes Panel for $3tn Infrastructure Masterplan

The Federal Government on Tuesday inaugurated a technical working group for the development of the first operational plan for the National Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan.

The TWG, with membership drawn from the relevant agencies of government, academia and private sector, is to work on the first operational plan, which is expected to cover the 2017 to 2020 fiscal periods.

The committee was inaugurated by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Fatima Mede, at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.

The NIIMP, which is being coordinated by the ministry, was approved by the Federal Executive Council in September 2014 as a blueprint for accelerated infrastructure development of the country over a period of 29 years from 2014 to 2043.

The plan seeks to raise the stock of infrastructure from the current level of 35 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product to at least 70 per cent by 2043.

Based on the document, an investment of $3tn is needed in energy, transport, Information and Communications Technology, agriculture, water and mining, housing, social infrastructure, vital registration and security infrastructure.

Speaking during the inauguration panel, Mede said that as a long term plan, the NIIMP would be implemented under a five-year operational plan that would allow for periodic reviews.

This, she added, would enable the government to translate strategic goals into objectives and align priorities with the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

The permanent secretary said, “The first operational plan, which is to cover the period 2017-2020, will serve as the capital allocation framework across sectors for annual budgeting. It will, therefore, identify priority infrastructure projects of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies that will have catalytic effect on economic growth of the nation and elaborate on enablers for implementation.”