Nigeria’s infrastructure sector is grossly underdeveloped and has limited access to social services and significantly increased cost of production and trade.
 
This was the submission of the Former Chief Executive Officer of The Infrastructure Bank Plc, Adekunle Oyinloye, at the 2020 stockbrokers’ conference in Lagos.
   
According to him, the value of Nigeria’s infrastructure, which is about 35% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), is low when compared to 70% contributions from peers in other emerging economies, with public infrastructure expenditure valued at 3.5% of total GDP.
He argued that the infrastructure deficit in Nigeria cannot be bridged through public resources alone as it will cripple the economy amid current fiscal constraints.
 
“Nigeria needs $15 billion annually over the next five to six years to finance its infrastructural deficits. With the estimate that the country needs to fund about 18% of its GDP on infrastructural development, it is important to start to look for alternative sources of financing to bridge the deficit.”
 
However, he noted that with the current political situation and declining government revenues propelled by the crash in crude oil prices, government’s ability to finance infrastructure is constrained.
 
He added that the Nigerian capital market presents the best platform for financing infrastructure, but decried that the bourse is bedevilled with problems that render it largely unpredictable for investors.
 
Oyinloye argued that Nigeria as an emerging economy needs a sound and effective capital market that is properly regulated to bridge the huge infrastructure-financing gap that exists.