The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, says in the 2021/2022 budget cycle, all infrastructure projects in Nigeria must be screened for Public Private Partnership suitability and compliance with the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan.

According to her, this must be done before such a project is included in the national budget and subsequent procurement.

Speaking at a webinar organized by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on financing PPP on Thursday, Ahmed, who is also the vice-chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), said the directive would ensure that PPP takes a centre stage in the procurement of infrastructure in the Nigeria.

“The government is ready and willing to dialogue and incorporate valuable suggestions from stakeholders with a view to further strengthening Nigeria’s PPP framework”, she said.

She noted that the webinar was an opportunity to hear directly on the concerns and areas the participants would like the government to address to make investment beneficial and deliver value for money to the country at large.

The Director-General of BPE, Mr. Alex Okoh, said in line with bureau’s new role in the administration of the concession programme of the Federal Government, the B   pe in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, haf developed a PPP project information tool which had been forwarded to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)  to capture all current and proposed infrastructure projects in the country.