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We’ve committed $2.2m to Second Niger Bridge – NSIA

By on August 29, 2015

The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority has put its total commitment to the construction of the Second Niger Bridge at $2.21m (N435.4m).

The project is structured as a Public Private Partnership and will be constructed and operated on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis.

It is expected that the bridge would be constructed and delivered in 48 months. When completed, the bridge and adjacent roads will have six lanes with three in each direction.

The project was initially estimated to cost N108bn excluding duties and Value Added Tax, (if duties and VAT are included, the project cost is N117.9bn).

The agency, in a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja, said as part of measures aimed at ensuring the effective implementation of the project, it had assembled a team of Nigerian and international advisers with proven capabilities and global experience in PPP infrastructure projects to ensure the project get first-class advisory services.

These consultants, it added, were engaged through a rigorous and competitive procurement process.

Giving a breakdown of the amount spent, the statement said a total of $247,586 was spent on the due diligence phase and $1.96m on the project development phase.

The statement reads in part, “To date, NSIA has spent a total of $2.21m on consultancy services on the two phases of the project – $247,586 on the due diligence phase; and $1.96m on the project development phase.

“These services have included work in the following areas: legal, financial, technical and engineering and environmental and social impact advisory, provided by various credible and well-recognised Nigerian and international professional services firms.

It said to date, total consultancy cost had been less than one per cent of the estimated project cost.

“Whilst there is no standardised benchmark for transaction fees, the European Investment Bank’s Economic and Financial Report No. 3 of 2005 indicates that, on the average, the level of transaction cost for the procurement phase of PPP projects is over 10 per cent of the capital value of the relevant project in Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.”

 

[Punch]