Infrastructure stakeholders have called for a significant increase in the number of bankable projects in Nigeria, urging that projects that have reached financial close should rise from about six per cent to at least 15–20 per cent. This is amid growing public and private sector interest in infrastructure development.
They made the call during the inaugural West Africa Infrastructure Expo held from April 7 to 9, 2026, alongside HVACR Nigeria.
The Deputy President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Valerie Agberagba, said the country must take advantage of the current momentum to accelerate infrastructure delivery.
“I think this summit is a welcome one at this time, where we have a political will to move the infrastructure of Nigeria forward. There is a conversation going on between the federal government, the states and all, and I believe we need to take advantage of that,” Agberagba said.
She stressed that while Nigeria has the materials and technical expertise, more projects must be prepared to the investment-ready stage.
“There was a realisation that in Nigeria, we have the materials, we have the professionals, and the will is being developed to be able to build our infrastructure.
And so, we believe there is a need to move projects that have been able to get to financial close, which is just about six per cent, to at least 15-20 per cent with the will that we have right now,” Agberagba said.
She added that improved financing structures and collaboration between stakeholders would be critical to achieving this target.
“If you need over N200tn to build infrastructure for the next 30-40 years, you will know that with our budget, we will not be able to fund it. And so, we all need to come to the table to decide on what to do,” she said.
Agberagba noted that domestic funding options such as pension funds and Sukuk instruments should be prioritised before seeking foreign investment.
“We have the domestic funds that can be handled. We have the pension fund… We also have the Sukuk fund to use. Let us do the domestic funding before we start looking for the direct foreign investment that we are looking for,” she advised.
The NSE Deputy President acknowledged concerns about the business environment, citing high energy and transport costs, but maintained that improved infrastructure would help ease these pressures.
“But when we have better roads, we have better infrastructure; we have the ports decongested. You realise that some of these policies that look so hard on us now will not be for the betterment of all of us,” Agberagba said.
The exhibition organiser, Senior Vice President, dmg events, Josine Heijmans, said the expo created a platform for stakeholders to address Nigeria’s infrastructure gap and drive investment.
“This is really a platform where all the public and private sector stakeholders come together to explore the latest products and solutions but also where the community engages for opportunities to collaborate,” Heijmans said.
She noted that Nigeria’s infrastructure stock remains below global benchmarks despite increased government spending.
“There is a gap in infrastructure stock at the moment. We are 30 per cent of GDP, whereas we also know that the World Bank would recommend a 70 per cent spend of GDP,” she said.
Also, the moderator for a panel discussion on Tuesday, Investment and Growth Funding Advisor, Oluebube Anele, said stakeholders emphasised the importance of developing viable, investment-ready projects to attract capital.
“We essentially tried to explore what has worked, what the successful models are, where the challenges still exist and what can be done to make sure that capital is going into viable projects across power, across transport, across logistics and core infrastructure assets,” Anele said.
She added that stronger project preparation and access to early-stage funding would help move more projects to financial close and unlock large-scale investments in the sector.
