Emefiele woos private sector players to infrastructure bond

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has advised corporate bodies in the country to take advantage of the Presidential Order 7 to raise infrastructure bonds.

According to him, the bonds, which are at concessionary rates, would be used to support the Federal Government in its desire to develop infrastructure in Nigeria.

Emefiele gave the charge on Saturday, during an inspection of the on-going road construction from the Apapa Port to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway toll gate being undertaken by the Dangote Group.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Executive Order Number 7, which opened the opportunity for private companies to intervene in infrastructure.

According to him, the Apapa Port road being constructed by the Dangote Group was comparable to those constructed in countries with more developed technology.

“It is a good thing for this country. When we talk about the Ease of Doing Business, you can imagine a situation whereby people have been complaining about the ease of transporting their goods out of the Apapa port,” he said.

While commending Alhaji Aliko Dangote for taking the initiative, he expressed the hope that the road would ease the traffic challenge on the route, particularly for trucks conveying cleared goods from the ports.

He further commended the Dangote Group for using local content, stressing, “this is 100 per cent local content. Dangote uses his cement on this road, the rods I understand are coming from African Foundries that smelted waste steel, which is converted into iron bars and is being used for the road.”

Speaking earlier, Dangote assured that the first phase of the construction would be ready before the end of December 2019.