Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit, amounting to 30% of its gross domestic product (GDP), falls short of the international benchmark of 70% set by the World Bank, the International Trade Office of the US Department of Commerce observed.
With Nigeria’s population growing at a rate of over 2.5% per year and an expected population of 400 million people by 2050, the US agency worries that the current infrastructure in the country is likely to be overwhelmed. The World Bank has projected that Nigeria will need to invest $3 trillion to reduce its infrastructure deficit.
The 2019 Global Competitive Index Report ranked Nigeria 130th out of 141 economies surveyed for quality infrastructure facilities. With a score of 48.33 out of 100 total points, the country still has over 50% infrastructure deficit.
Also, Nigeria was ranked 24th out of 54 African countries in the Africa Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI), 2020. With a total score of 23.26, Nigeria lags behind Egypt at 2nd place with 88.3 points, and Libya at 3rd with 82.9 points.
Over five years (2016 – 2020), though slowly, Nigeria has recorded a marginal increase in infrastructure development across selected components, namely: transport, power, ICT, and water and sanitation. Despite obvious improvement, the country still needs to catch up to 23 African countries.
Infrastructures are essential social services that not only aid economic activities but also stabilize the economy.
Thus, Infrastructure Development (ID) is pivotal to national economic growth. In simple terms, it is the improvement of the quality of the different components of the infrastructure — transport system, power, ICT, water and sanitation, and others.
Inadequate infrastructure facilities have been identified as one of the factors militating against sustainable economic growth in Nigeria. Despite the government’s various efforts to bridge infrastructure gaps, the journey seems prolonged with recurring rural-urban migration and an increase in annual population growth that further strains existing facilities.
Part of the mechanisms deployed by the government to fix the country’s infrastructure deficits is the establishment of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan— a framework for building a resilient economy and a roadmap for building world-class infrastructures. Both, identify and elaborate on effective strategies for the successful implementation of the programs in line with the current economic realities.
Transport Infrastructure
Another visible headway in infrastructure development (majorly directed towards the transportation system) in Nigeria is the popular Chinese project-tied loans that have had a significant impact on the country’s infrastructure development. The total loan obtained from China as of September 30, 2021, was $6.17 billion with USD3.519 billion disbursed. In addition, there is another Chinese Renmimbi Yuan-denominated loan of CNY2.300 billion of which CNY480.40 million was disbursed.
The projects (fifteen – 15 in number as of March 31, 2020), include
- Nigerian-Communications Satelite
- the Nigerian National Public Security Communication System Project,
- the Nigerian Railway Modernization Project (Idu-Kaduna section),
- the Abuja Light Rail Project,
- the Nigerian Four Airport Terminals Expansion Project (Abuja, Kano, Lagos, and Port Harcourt),
- The Nigeria ICT Infrastructure Backbone project,
- Nigerian Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project,
- Nigerian 40 Parboiled Rice Processing Plants Project,
- Nigerian Railway Modernization Project (Lagos-Ibadan section) and
- Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Abuja – Keffi- Makurdi Road Project and others.
- Nigeria Supply of Rolling Stocks and Depot Equipment for Abuja Light Rail Project
- Nigeria Greater Abuja Water Supply Project
- Nigerian Four Airport Terminal Expansion Project Ancillary Project
- Nigerian Four Airport Terminal Expansion Project Incremental Project
- Nigerian ICT Infrastructure Backbone Phase II Project
Power Infrastructure
On the AIDI’s Electricity index to measure the total electricity production of a given county, Nigeria scored 2.721 over 100, ranking 29th out of 54 African countries.
In a similar survey by the World Bank to evaluate electricity access for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa across different years, Nigeria got a score of 55.4%. Though a significant feat, about half of its population—majorly people in the rural area still live without basic access to electricity.
ICT, Water and Sanitation
The 2020 ICT Index to measure the availability of quality ICT infrastructure also saw Nigeria perform low with 17.8 points out of 100.
On the other hand, in 2019, a state of emergency was declared on Nigeria’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) project owing to inadequate lack of infrastructure, insufficient human capital, poor investment, and others.
In a featured story on World Bank News, 60 million Nigerians have no access to basic drinking water, 80 million lack access to advanced sanitation facilities, and 167 million have no access to basic hand washing facilities.
Overall, the fundamentals of any national economy are its stock of infrastructure.
Efficient transport and port systems ease the costs of transportation and aid production processes. Sophisticated ICT infrastructure enhances communication flow, and stable electricity increases economic productivity, and strengthens businesses. Water supply and sanitation improve citizens’ health and reduce water-borne related diseases.
The condition of a nation’s social infrastructure determines its level of economic growth, its people’s well-being, employment opportunities, the cost of doing business, and foreign and local investors’ confidence in the viability of their business endeavours.
Hence, closing Nigeria’s vast infrastructure deficit in power, transport, ICT, and water and sanitation remains a policy path to be prioritised.