This is the new Nmandi Azikiwe International Airport terminal building in Abuja under construction, its massive
It’s a terminal building (right) , a multi-story carpark (left) and its connected by a light rail from the airport to the Abuja city Centre
In all these projects cost $1b. that’s $500m for the light rail in Abuja and $500m for four new international airports like this in Lagos, Enugu, Abuja
These were important projects for Nigeria, and were funded by rather innovative means.
These projects are not on the Nigerian budget, they are funded by $1b loans from China, there are for 20 years, they cost us 2.5% per annum, but we will pay nothing for the first seven years because we secured a moratorium on interest payments. This means these projects could be up and running and earning revenue for Nigeria, before we then have to repay the Chinese.
This is how infrastructure projects are done, long term, “cheap” credit, with visible benefits
Again we need to look at our infrastructure deficit and meet it head on. Recessions are bullies, and you never retreat from bullies. We need to spend our way into prosperity, it’s that simple. What we need a program (not necessarily a budget) that spends like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the second New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, (the government need study the WPA carefully). N6t budgets, won’t cut it, be innovative, go off budget, collateralize your national assets, create wealth
This government needs to spend more on infrastructure, be bold, offer China what they want (which is a strategic investment in NNPC), use the money and build legacy infrastructure, there is a ten lane expressway in Lagos, there is a ten lane expressway in Abuja, connect them, add a rail line, link it to all state capitals.
A project of the magnitude alone will erase unemployment by creating millions of jobs for years, and boost productivity, thus boosting the GDP. Recession fears will leave.
Be bold….
It’s our problem, we can solve it
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