The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has said that with the receipt of the Certificate of Compliance, the Federal Government is to officially commence the procurement process for the highway concessions under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI). According to the Minister, the HDMI would facilitate further development of Nigeria’s federal highway network by bringing in investment to improve efficiency, accountability, and profitable entrepreneurship to the operation, management, and maintenance of all assets within the Right of Way on the highways.
Mr. Fashola said that the initiative has further affirmed the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s commitment to infrastructure development funding which has been driven by the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme Order of 2018, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) being managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the SUKUK Fund. He noted that through such initiatives the Federal Government has been leveraging on private sector funding and participation in the development of critical infrastructure across the country and the HDMI is another innovation developed to attract the private sector.
The Minister who spoke at the official handover of the Certificate of Compliance by ICRC, explained that the HDMI was a fully home-grown idea that would deliver a safer and enjoyable travel experience for Nigerian road users as travel time would be shortened, cost reduced, and commercial activities stimulated. Explaining further, he said the HDMI is an indigenous Land Value Capture scheme conceived by the Ministry to develop Nigeria’s network of federal highway corridors and boost economic development along the Right of Way. He added that it would be executed in two parts comprising Value Added Concession (VAC) and Unbundled Assets Approval (UAA).
