Aviation Projects Will be Contractor Financed Based – Stella Oduah
Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah has told the Chinese Business Community that all projects contained in the investment baskets currently being marketed through the Investors’ Roadshow are to be executed under the Contractor-Financed Business Model and not through concessioning or the Public Private Partnership (PPP) business model as obtained in the past.
The Minister who made the position of government known during the Investors’ Forum in Beijing, China over the weekend said the ministry was looking for investors who are interested in investing in the Nigeria Aerotropolis Cities and the aviation sector in general who will partner with Nigerian indigenous investors in growing the aviation industry in the country.
Asked if the ministry is considering the PPP option as it’s preferred business model, the minister said what the government is “actually looking for is contractor-financed investors who can finance the projects while the government provides the enabling environment; we are looking for investors that can have Joint Ventures with our local, indigenous companies where together, they can contractor-finance the various projects”, she stated.
She said under this model, investors would be required to look at the investment baskets where the various investment opportunities are domiciled and clearly stated, from which they can pull out those they have appetite for to invest in, assuring that what the government would do is to ensure that the policy guarantees all investors return on their investment through the creation of the necessary enabling environment.
She further explained that under this arrangement, government will work out a revenue sharing formula where revenues would be shared between it and the investors in a win–win situation that will serve the best interest of both parties. She said government’s share of the revenue will serve as its collateral benefit for not only creating the necessary enabling environment, but also for providing the investors a ready market.
Earlier in his Welcome address, Nigerian Ambassador to China, Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali said the objective of the Forum was to bring net worth companies in China and around the world to invest in the development of the Nigerian aviation sector in realization of the Transformation Agenda the present administration in Nigeria. This, he added, informed the selection of the few but reputable companies invited to participate in the forum.
He noted that he had carefully studied the ministry’s blueprint on the Aerotropolis concept and its transformation roadmap, and urged the Chinese business community to take advantage of the huge opportunities that exists in the sector to invest and contribute to the development of the industry in Nigeria.
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