Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Director General Jobson Ewalefoh has told West African governments they can no longer rely solely on public resources to finance critical infrastructure, urging countries across the sub region to embrace public private partnerships as the most viable route to closing the region’s substantial infrastructure gap.
Speaking at the ECOWAS Infrastructure Forum in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Ewalefoh said the widening infrastructure deficit has made it essential for governments to mobilise private capital and expertise to deliver roads, railways, housing, water facilities and other strategic assets needed for sustainable economic growth, arguing that with infrastructure needs increasingly outpacing available public funds, governments must focus on building transparent regulatory frameworks and developing genuinely bankable projects capable of attracting long term private investment. He described PPPs as a practical alternative to traditional public procurement, one that lets governments leverage private sector financing, innovation, technical expertise and efficient risk sharing to accelerate delivery.
In a statement from Acting Head of Media and Publicity Ifeanyi Nwoko, Ewalefoh also pushed for greater use of well regulated unsolicited PPP proposals, explaining that such initiatives provide an additional pipeline for projects without replacing conventional procurement, since they let private investors identify viable opportunities, finance project development at their own expense and absorb the associated development risk, easing fiscal pressure on government at a time when public resources cannot stretch to prepare every project for investment. An unsolicited proposal is a complementary proposal, he said, we simply do not have enough public resources to develop every project through the solicited route, what we have done is pragmatically transfer that responsibility, and the associated risks of project development, to the private sector, though he stressed that privately initiated projects still undergo the same rigorous appraisal and approval process as government sponsored PPP projects to protect transparency and value for money.
Drawing on Nigeria’s own experience, Ewalefoh said the country has strengthened its PPP framework through clear eligibility requirements, structured governance processes, the Swiss Challenge procurement model, non refundable application fees and performance bonds designed to ensure only credible, financially viable proposals move through the transaction process. He also challenged development partners to channel more resources specifically into project preparation, noting that while many institutions are willing to finance infrastructure, far fewer are prepared to support developing the bankable projects needed to attract that investment in the first place, calling the shortage of well prepared projects one of the biggest constraints on infrastructure financing across Africa and arguing unsolicited proposals offer a practical way to help close that gap. He called for stronger collaboration among ECOWAS member states through a regional network of national PPP institutions to deepen technical capacity, share knowledge and harmonise best practice in project appraisal and implementation, arguing greater regional coordination would strengthen the credibility of PPP transactions through common evaluation standards and better information sharing on cross border projects of regional significance. The forum’s panel session featured representatives from Ghana, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire sharing their own PPP experiences, with Ewalefoh reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening its PPP ecosystem through transparent regulation, sound governance and innovative project development frameworks.
