Two years into his administration, President Bola Tinubu is ramping up the nation’s infrastructure to drive development, despite decades of chronic underinvestment, writes LAOLU AFOLABI
Nigeria, home to over 200 million people and one of Africa’s largest economies, faces a daunting infrastructure deficit that undermines its growth potential. Despite its vast resources, the country struggles with inadequate roads, unreliable power supply, and limited access to critical services. The crippling infrastructure deficit continues to stall progress and undermine economic growth, job creation, and efforts to reduce poverty. With an estimated annual shortfall surpassing $100bn and a staggering $3tn needed over the next three decades, bridging this gap is vital for the nation’s future.
While the previous administration under former President Muhammadu Buhari made significant strides, reviving the railway network, massive investment in the power sector and completing the Second Niger Bridge, among other landmark achievements, the infrastructure deficits continued to widen, underscoring the urgent need for sustained efforts. Over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s 195,000km road network is in poor condition, with rural areas particularly underserved.
Upon assuming office, President Bola Tinubu committed to closing Nigeria’s infrastructure gaps and launched a series of ambitious projects, including the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the 1,000km Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, infrastructural renewal in the Federal Capital Territory and several interventions in the health and digital economy, all aimed at setting the country on a path to renewal.
An overview of the 2024 Infrastructure Industry Report published by Agusto&Co revealed that with a rapidly expanding and urbanising population, Nigeria faces a significant infrastructure deficit, projected to reach $878bn by 2040. However, the country’s current infrastructure stock constitutes only 30 per cent of GDP, far below the World Bank’s benchmark of 70 per cent. The country also ranks behind 23 other African countries on the African Development Bank’s Africa Infrastructure Development Index.
“Despite reforms such as the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan and the Highway Development Management Initiative, critical deficits remain, with only 30 per cent of the country’s estimated 200,000 road networks paved. The railway network, plagued by vandalism and funding gaps, is still undeveloped, as it constituted less than one per cent of the transportation industry’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2023,” the report stated.
In the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2024, an annual report published by the International Institute for Management Development, Nigeria ranks 64th out of 67 countries, with Singapore emerging as the most competitive economy. In the report, Nigeria scores 23.71 out of 100 in infrastructure. Key weaknesses identified include unstable electricity supply, ageing road networks and limited rail connectivity, limited broadband penetration affecting Information and Communication Technology adoption, and challenges in education and healthcare infrastructure.
The ranking highlights Nigeria’s significant challenges in areas such as economic performance, infrastructure development, and business efficiency. Specifically, Nigeria holds the 66th spot in economic performance and infrastructure, 54th in government efficiency, and 58th in business efficiency. Additionally, Nigeria ranks last in pricing, health and environment, and education, trailing behind all other countries in the index, including Ghana.
Infrastructure push intensifies
Tinubu, determined to change the narrative, launched massive infrastructural projects across the country and unveiled a comprehensive plan to upgrade its infrastructure. This includes investments in roads, railways, airports, and energy sectors. In his first year, he approved approximately N6tn for infrastructure upgrades spanning the geopolitical zones. Apart from ramping up on inherited projects, he also initiated massive ones, including the 1,000km Sokoto-Illela-Badagry superhighway, which is meant to join the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, which he flagged off on Sunday, May 26, 2024.
Speaking at the flag-off of the 700km Lagos-Calabar Highway, which takes a larger share of the 853km coastline of the country, Tinubu highlighted the projects’ benefits, including boosting 30 million businesses, and assured Nigerians that the projects going on simultaneously from the Lagos, Akwa Ibom and Cross River ends would never be abandoned. On May 31, the President inaugurated the 30km completed full concrete pavement section from the Lagos end.
Reeling out some of the projects and the achievements in two years, the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, said the country had been witnessing massive road construction in all the geopolitical zones. Those already completed in two years are 38.7km of the Yakasia-Badume-Damargu-Marken Zalli Road in Kano, 17.80km of dualisation and construction of the Kano-Kwanar-Hadejia Road in Kano/Jigawa states, and 29km of Sections I and II of the dualisation of the Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa/Bokani Junction Road, and the 10.24km of the Lokoja-Benin Road dualisation.
Other are the Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Road in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states (16.32km), Enugu-Onitsha Expressway (36km), Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway (81.2km), Lagos-Badagry Expressway (22.2km), Kano-Maiduguri Expressway (79.5km), Kaduna-Pambeguwa-Jos Road and Kaduna/Plateau states (15.96km), among others.
On railway development, in December 2024, the Tinubu administration completed and handed over the Port Harcourt–Aba section of the Eastern narrow-gauge railway, a part of the larger $3bn project aimed at reconstructing and expanding the existing narrow-gauge railway connecting Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, passing through key cities like Umuahia, Owerri, Awka, Enugu, and Abakaliki.
The president reaffirmed his commitment to completing the high-speed rail line linking Ibadan to Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano. During a visit to China in August 2024, he engaged with the China Railway Construction Corporation, stressing the importance of the project for national and regional connectivity. To fast-track funding for new rail projects, the 2025 budget makes provision of N400bn for light rail projects in Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, and Kano states, with N150bn allocated for the construction of a railway line in Kano and N44.4bn for the completion of the Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan railway projects, among others.
The Federal Government also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MPH Rail Development (UK) Ltd for the construction of the Port Harcourt–Enugu–Calabar–Abuja standard gauge railway line under a Public-Private Partnership framework. There is also the Kano–Kano-Katsina-Maradi railway project for which the country secured $1.3bn in funding and is currently ongoing.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has also ramped up infrastructural development of the capital city. Speaking after an inspection of some of the projects slated for inauguration on Thursday, May 29, 2025, he said the renewed infrastructure drive was unprecedented. “Tinubu’s achievements in FCT are unprecedented, and in the next two years, you’ll see what is going to happen in this country,” he said.
The FCT has witnessed infrastructural revival since Tinubu came on board, with the Abuja metro train revived and the International Conference Centre remodelled, alongside several road constructions completed and ongoing. The Apo to Wassa Junction Road (the left-wing service lane of the Outer Southern Expressway), the N20 Interchange to connect Wole Soyinka Way with the Murtala Mohammed Expressway, popularly known as Kubwa Expressway, access road from the Obafemi Awolowo Way to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal in Dakibiyu District, among others, have been completed and are ready for inauguration.
The president is also ramping up infrastructure in the health sector. To achieve this, he launched the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Healthcare Expansion Programme, leading to the establishment of 10 oncology and diagnostic centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. This initiative builds upon previous NSIA projects, such as the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre and diagnostic centres in Kano and Umuahia. The administration also embarked on the upgrade of health infrastructure in 16 teaching hospitals, with the University College Hospital, Ibadan; Lagos University Teaching Hospital; and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital among the beneficiaries. Sixteen infrastructure projects were inaugurated at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kware, in Sokoto State, and new facilities at the National Ear Care Centre in Kaduna were commissioned for use, among others.
The President also launched the N100bn Credit Guarantee Company, fibre-to-hostel solar projects to provide 24-hour internet to universities, the NextGen innovation challenge for youths across the 774 local government areas, and partners investors to boost gas infrastructure and expand Compress Natural Gas use nationwide, alongside the rollout of CNG buses and tricycles across cities and universities.
The Federal Government committed $2bn to expand broadband infrastructure, targeting the deployment of 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables nationwide. This initiative is to enhance internet connectivity, particularly in underserved areas, and is supported by a $500m commitment from the World Bank. The government also launched Project 774 LG connectivity to provide reliable internet access to all 774 LG secretariats by 2027, leveraging existing infrastructure from NIGCOMSAT and Galaxy Backbone. Also, the Federal Executive Council approved the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project to connect over 21 million people in 4,834 underserved communities, among others.
Nigeria’s installed power generation capacity is currently around 14,000 MW, with a transmission capacity of 8,500mw While the installed capacity has increased, the peak generation on the grid is around 4,800 MW, indicating that the full potential of the installed capacity is not being utilised.
The government is also set to deliver 100,000 housing units across the country under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates programme. The focus is to address housing deficits and promote affordable living among Nigerians.
Funding challenges
The country faces significant funding challenges in its quest to bridge a substantial infrastructure deficit. Despite efforts to increase capital expenditure, the Federal Government’s allocation for infrastructure remains insufficient. For instance, in 2024, only N1.32 tn was earmarked for infrastructure, while for 2025, N4.06 tn has been allocated. The infrastructure allocation represents approximately 12.7 per cent of the total ₦54.99 tn budget. The improved allocation, however, fell short of the World Bank’s recommendation for developing countries to allocate 4.5 to five per cent of their GDP to infrastructure. In Nigeria’s case, the 2025 infrastructure spending amounts to only 2.1 per cent of the projected GDP.
Compounding the issue is Nigeria’s debt servicing burden, which consumes a significant portion of government revenue. This limits the fiscal space available for capital projects. According to PwC, “Limited fiscal space for public investment and difficulty attracting private investments constrain the ability to make essential infrastructure improvements.”
To address these challenges, experts advocate increased private sector participation through Public-Private Partnerships. Industry experts attribute the low level of private sector investment in Nigerian infrastructure to several challenges, including limited long-term financing options, inadequate maintenance practices, corruption, weak contract enforcement, and insufficient project preparation. Given the essential role of the private sector in addressing Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit, tackling these socio-economic and political obstacles to foster a more favourable investment climate is critical.
Agusto&Co suggested that key strategies, including the establishment of a dedicated fund for bankable projects, should be considered. This, it said, would enhance public sector expertise, enforce contract sanctity, reduce corruption, and enact targeted policy reforms.
The Federal Government has also planned to concession major projects in the road, power and energy sectors to private operators, as part of a strategy to repay project-related loans and reduce dependence on direct borrowing.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, in an interview during a meeting of the African Development Bank on Thursday, said, “If you have a one-gigawatt solar project going up in the northern part of the country, once it is built, perhaps with government funding, it will then be concessioned, and the returns, the tariffs paid by end users, will help to defray the cost of the debt.”
Edun said contrary to public concerns about excessive borrowing, most of the government’s loan commitments are tied to infrastructure and are disbursed over extended periods. He said they are not immediate cash injections but long-term investments in productive sectors.
“There is no such thing as a $25bn borrowing plan over six months or even over one year. What was laid before the National Assembly, in line with the law and the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, is project-linked borrowing to be disbursed over five to seven years. Projects in roads, rail, ports, and power generation are designed to be revenue-generating, with the expectation that proceeds from their operations would be used to repay associated debts.
“These are revenue-generating projects. For example, the port expansion will bring in more business and user charges, which will help offset the cost of the loans,” he said.
The minister also stated that the government was shifting toward a model of self-financing infrastructure and reducing reliance on direct public expenditure. He said viable projects such as roads and bridges would be open to private sector participation through concession agreements.
In his mid-term review report, Umahi said, “Four new private sector investors have been attracted to the ministry’s Highway Development and Management Initiative.” He further stated that tolling operations on the 227.2km Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi Road corridor commenced on February 5, 2025.
As the country grapples with daunting funding constraints, the push to bridge infrastructure gaps remains critical for its future. Tinubu’s initiatives signal a commitment to long-term transformation, but the scale of investment required calls for innovative financing, public-private partnerships, and tough policy reforms. Whether Nigeria can meet its $3 tn target hinges on overcoming systemic challenges and making infrastructure the cornerstone of national renewal.
