A financial expert, Nnemeka Obiaeri, has called on all tiers of government to engage more of Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) projects to bridge the infrastructure gap, due to dwindling economic resources.
Obiaeri, CEO, Tarux Capital and Advisory Services, Lagos, gave the suggestion while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Lagos.
He said the country ought to invest about $20 billion annually on infrastructure to attain economic parity with leading economies.
According to Obiaeri, since this is not possible for now, except through borrowing, the country can adopt more of BOT projects to achieve the target.
He noted that investing on a modern railway network that would link other members of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) via BOT projects would change our current GDP figures.
“More BOT ventures are ways in which government can expand the economy and create new economic mileage in the system. The private sector should be allowed to fix roads that lead to the regions because such roads will transform the current trade within the regions,” he said.
He said there was no need to allow some roads to be under construction in the last two decades, whereas such roads would have long been done through BOT.
“In the early ‘70s, many of the countries that made up the orient region were of similar economic size with our beloved country, but now they are decades ahead of us.
“For us to attain their current status, the government must expend on key infrastructure like never before,’’ he said.
Obiaeri noted that aside infrastructure, the government must focus more on the entrenchment of corporate governance, to position the economy for prosperity.
