Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project is delivering better value than its official price tag,while drawing increasing attention and praise from international development banks.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Umahi said the federal government is yet to secure a loan for the massive infrastructure project after footing 30% of the bill. However, its rapid progress and cost-efficiency is catching the attention of global financial institutions who are eager to fund the project.
Umahi quoted representatives of Deutsche Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, who toured the project a few weeks ago and were wowed by it’s progress. According to them, the project is undervalued, a reflection, he said, of the project’s ability to deliver high-quality results at a lower-than-expected cost.
“As of today, we have not secured one global loan on the project,” Umahi noted. “Hitech had invested their money and that job is about 80 percent done.” However, the prospects of getting funding are great.
According to Umahi, major global financial institutions have shown interest in supporting the project.
“Two development banks that are also funding the loan component of the project, were with us in Abuja, and we came to Lagos to look at the project. And I know that praises resonated at the World Bank Conference in the US before the Honorable Minister of Finance, where they praised the project and they praised Mr. President for his reforms, and in particular this project. And so when the Deutsche Bank people came…and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, they marveled at the rate of construction, the quality of work, and the innovative ideas of Mr. President in insisting that this will be done. And I quote what (they) said, that the project was undervalued.”
Addressing funding concerns, Umahi explained that Section One of the road, covering 47 kilometres, was awarded at ₦1.068 trillion, with only 30% of the amount committed so far by the federal government. Section Two, worth ₦1.33 trillion, has seen a similar 30% commitment, with the remaining 70% intended to come from yet-to-be-secured loans.
“And when you come to section two, it’s 1.33 trillion, and we have only committed 30% of the cost of that project. And the 70% is the loan component, and that loan component has not come. And that’s why the development partners came, the Deutsche Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. They came, and they were very much interested. Today, a lot of others… African Development Bank, Islamic Bank, are coming knocking for us to interact with them. They’re interested, seeing what we have done.”
Despite funding gaps, the minister stressed that 30 kilometres has already been completed — well ahead of the 36-month timeline — positioning the coastal road as a high-impact, efficiently managed project likely to attract even more international investment.
“By December, I strongly believe that we would have completed Section one. Section one is supposed to be for 36 months. But this 30 kilometer we’ve completed, it’s been done within one year, 12 months.”
Melissa Enoch
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