Abuja – The Federal Government of Nigeria says seventy-five firms have submitted bids for the concession of twelve federal roads across the country.
The Head, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Unit, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Abimbola Asein, made this known at the opening of the Request For Qualification (RFQ) bid
in Abuja.
Asein while announcing this at the headquarters of the Ministry, stated that the bid documents contain the names of the companies.
Some of the firms that submitted their bids include China Road and Bridge Corporation Nigeria Limited, Dafac Capitals Limited, Dantata & Sawoe Construction Company (Nigeria) Limited, Diamond Straples Limited, and EK Holdings Limited.
According to the ministry, the bids are for value-added concession for 12 federal roads under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI).
It was gathered that the Ministry of Works created the HDMI to develop and supervise the country’s federal road network through private sector investment, maximising the use of assets along the right of way.
The 12 roads to be concession under the first phase of the HDMI are: Benin – Asaba, Abuja – Lokoja; Kaduna – Kano; Onitsha – Owerri – Aba; Sagamu – Benin; and Abuja – Keffi – Akwanga.
Others include Lokoja – Benin; Enugu – Port Harcourt; Ilorin – Jebba; Lagos – Ota – Abeokuta; Lagos – Badagry; and Kano – Shuari – Potiskum – Damaturu.
In December 2020, the Minister, Babatunde Fashola, received the Certificate of Compliance for the Outline Business Case for the HDMI.
This followed the official inauguration of the e-portal by the minister on March 29, 2021.
Asein said applications were received from interested prospective concessionaires in response to the request for qualification.
“The evaluation process is about to start and at the end of the process, we will communicate to those who have been pre-qualified. It is going to be free, fair, and transparent.
“We will go through the documents submitted by the 75 firms and if they are pre-qualified they will go on to the next stage,” She explained.
The initiative was aimed at creating an alternative source of financing for road development and management across the country while unlocking the economic potential of the project routes with attendant job creation.
The Ministry added that it was expecting over N1tn from the private sector for the development and maintenance of the 12 highways selected for concession under the HDMI.
The 12 highways combined represent about 1,963km and less than 5.6 per cent of Nigeria’s 35,000km federal highway network.
According to officials of the ministry,
concessionaires will need to recoup their investments and this signifies the return of toll gates.
The bid opening event was graced by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, some non-government organisations, and other interested partners and stakeholders.
