The Management of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has announced the commencement of operations of the Nigeria Institute of Infrastructure and Public Private Partnership (NII3P), an institute established by the Commission. The Commission has designated Dr. Amanze Okere; who is also ICRC’s Head of Special Projects in our PPP Resource Department as the Acting Cordinator for NII3P.
As part of the Commission’s mandate for the development of Public Private Partnership (PPP) as a preferred public procurement route in the face of dwindling fiscal resources and revenue challenges, the Commission intends to use the NII3P as a major vehicle for accelerating overall efforts at putting in place requisite capacity to develop and take bankable PPP projects to market so as to rapidly close Nigeria’s Infrastructure deficit
The Commission has been involved in several PPP capacity building programmes. These were with the aim of developing the required competence, knowledge and skills for public and private practitioners to structure and implement viable and sustainable PPPs. This has involved direct trainings, and where possible; notification of other training programmes, usually outside the country. The Commission has also facilitated the delivery of PPP programmes using internal and external faculties for relevant public agencies. One of its key successes was the facilitation of the global APMG CP3P certification programme for staff of ICRC and other MDAs.
In the course of these activities, the Commission had ensured that its staff have also acquired the requisite skills to deliver PPP capacity building programmes. As a result of several internal and external recommendations with respect to PPP capacity gaps, the Commission decided to establish a dedicated arm with a focus on PPP capacity building manned by ICRC staff and requiring little additional spending in the face of dwindling resources and mounting needs. All required statutory approvals for NII3P were completed in 2019.
In response to the almost new normal of living with the COVID 19 pandemic, it has therefore, become necessary to secure existing PPP transactions, as well as provide knowledge on how to structure new PPPs in the country. The Commission believes this is the time to ensure that PPPs are working well especially as the government’s main revenue source has been impacted by the pandemic. Besides, it is also essential to put a face to the numerous PPP capacity building programmes planned for the year. The institute is expected to start first as a virtual online learning campus and in time become physical as resources become available.
Some online certificate courses planned with content delivery partners over June and July 2020, through the zoom webinar platform are: Refresher course on key clauses for PPP agreements with CRISIL Infrastructure and Risk Advisory, India; Project screening tool and its application for PPP projects with CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Advisory, India; Port and Dry Port PPP Project Development Course with Maritime and Transport Business Solutions, Netherlands.
