ICRC and the new PPP push: Turning Nigeria’s infrastructure ambition into projects

For an institution whose work is often conducted behind the scenes, through compliance certificates, transaction structures, risk allocation and regulatory approvals, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has become an increasingly visible actor in Nigeria’s infrastructure push.

Over the past few years, particularly since Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh assumed office as Director-General in 2024, the Commission has sought to move Nigeria’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme from a process-heavy regulatory regime towards a faster, more predictable system capable of converting private capital into infrastructure. The significance is considerable. Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit is estimated at about $2.3 trillion, with ICRC saying the country would require roughly $100 billion annually to close the gap over the coming years. Government resources alone cannot meet that requirement, making private-sector financing central to the country’s infrastructure strategy.

The ICRC, established under the ICRC Act of 2005, is mandated to regulate and supervise federal government PPPs. Its role spans project development, procurement, contract compliance and monitoring, making it a critical gateway between government agencies seeking infrastructure and investors looking for bankable opportunities.

A six-point agenda for a faster ICRC

The change in direction became clear soon after Ewalefoh took office. At a strategic retreat in Uyo in August 2024, he unveiled a six-point policy direction built around innovative financing, service-delivery optimisation, project categorisation, time-bound project delivery, inter-agency collaboration and strategic partnerships. The agenda was more than an administrative checklist. It reflected a recognition that the success of PPPs depends not only on attracting investors but also on reducing the institutional bottlenecks that can keep projects trapped in development and approval stages.

That emphasis on speed has since become one of the defining features of the Commission’s reform programme.

Taking the PPP conversation from policy to projects

A major milestone came in June 2025 with the maiden Nigeria Public-Private Partnership Summit, hosted by ICRC in Abuja. Held on June 17 and 18, 2025 under the theme, “Unlocking Nigeria’s Potential: The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda,” the summit brought together government officials, investors, development-finance institutions and private-sector leaders.

The event was designed to shift the national conversation “from policy to projects.” ICRC said the objective was to dismantle bottlenecks, unlock capital and create infrastructure Nigerians could see and use.

The summit also elevated PPPs from a specialist procurement issue to a broader economic-development instrument. Participants included Vice President Kashim Shettima, Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah, representatives of the African Development Bank and International Finance Corporation, Africa50, the UK-Nigeria Infrastructure Facility, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and private investment institutions, alongside state governors and other stakeholders.

The message was unmistakable: Nigeria wants private capital to play a much larger role in delivering roads, ports, airports, healthcare, power, agriculture and digital infrastructure.

Decentralising approvals

Perhaps the most consequential institutional reform of the period was the introduction of threshold-based PPP approvals. Previously, PPP projects were subjected to Federal Executive Council approval irrespective of their size. In June 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a new structure under which Ministries could approve projects below N20 billion, while agencies and parastatals could approve projects below N10 billion through Project Approval Boards established under ICRC guidelines. Larger projects, or transactions involving multiple ministries and requiring inter-agency coordination, would continue to require FEC approval.

The framework was subsequently formalised through the ICRC’s August 2025 PPP Regulatory Notice and accompanying guidelines. The reform did not remove ICRC oversight: every PPP project remains subject to the Commission’s review and certification. The practical implication is significant. A relatively small hospital, school or digital infrastructure PPP no longer has to navigate exactly the same approval pathway as a multibillion-naira highway or seaport transaction.

The objective is to make the system proportionate to project size while preserving regulatory safeguards. One early example is the Digital Standards Platform, developed through a partnership involving the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the Bureau of Public Procurement and Goringo Consult. The platform was described by ICRC as one of the first PPP projects delivered under the revised guidelines.

Bringing predictability to PPP transactions

The Commission also issued a comprehensive suite of PPP process guidelines in 2025, covering key stages from project development and business-case preparation to financial modelling, procurement and agreement structuring. The reform drive reached another landmark in June 2026 with the unveiling of Nigeria’s Model PPP Agreement, developed by ICRC in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice.

For years, PPP agreements were negotiated largely on a project-by-project basis. The new model provides a common reference framework for federal MDAs while allowing agreements to be adapted to individual projects. It addresses areas including risk allocation, bankability, governance and contractual obligations, with the stated aim of reducing negotiation time and transaction costs.

The model is particularly important for investor confidence. Infrastructure investors commit capital over long periods, and uncertainty over contractual terms can increase risk, prolong negotiations and ultimately make projects more expensive.

By creating a predictable starting point for negotiations, the ICRC is seeking to make Nigerian PPP transactions easier to understand, structure and finance.

Projects moving across sectors

The reforms have coincided with activity across a wide range of infrastructure sectors. In aviation, the PPP portfolio includes concessions involving the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu and Port Harcourt International Airport, with projects focused on terminal development, upgrading, operations and maintenance.

In transport, the Highway Development and Management Initiative remains one of the flagship PPP programmes. It includes federal road corridors such as the Abuja–Keffi–Akwanga–Lafia–Makurdi route and the Benin–Asaba corridor. The Lagos–Ibadan Expressway concession also combines operations and maintenance with tolling and intelligent transport systems. Ports are another major area of activity, with projects including the Bakassi Deep Sea Port and the proposed Ondo Multipurpose Deep-Sea Port. The latter is designed as a greenfield multipurpose facility with a major solid-minerals terminal linked to an industrial city and free-trade-zone concept.

In healthcare, MEDIPOOL has emerged as a significant social-sector PPP initiative. Approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2025, the programme is designed to centralise the bulk procurement of essential medicines, vaccines and medical consumables, with the aim of improving affordability, availability and efficiency in the healthcare supply chain.

Digital and revenue-enhancing infrastructure has also featured prominently. The Nigeria Customs Modernisation Project, although originating before the current two-year period, illustrates the scale of PPP transactions under ICRC regulation. The $3.2 billion project involves the Nigeria Customs Service and Trade Modernisation Project Limited, with Huawei Technologies as technical partner and Africa Finance Corporation as lead financier. ICRC says it is projected to generate more than $176 billion for the Federal Government over 20 years.

Beyond appovals

Beyond approvals and policy documents, recent commercial closes provide a more tangible measure of progress. The Grand Katsina-Ala hydropower project attained Commercial Close on May 22, 2026, representing an important step for a major energy PPP. The project is intended to expand electricity generation while demonstrating the potential of private-sector participation in Nigeria’s power infrastructure. Similarly, the Contactless Biometric Verification System, or V-PASS, reached agreement in April 2026 for deployment across Nigerian airports. The system is intended to strengthen passenger verification, aviation security, data integrity and revenue collection.

These projects illustrate a broader feature of the ICRC’s recent approach: the Commission’s success is increasingly being measured not simply by how many projects enter the pipeline, but by how many progress towards commercial and financial close and eventual implementation.

Reviving long-delayed infrastructure

Another strand of the Commission’s recent work has been its attempt to use PPPs to revive projects that have remained stalled for decades. The Dasin Hausa Dam is a prominent example. Planned as a counterpart to Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam, the Nigerian project has remained unrealised for more than 40 years. In March 2025, ICRC brought the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Mainstream Energy Solutions together to accelerate its development through a PPP.

The proposed multipurpose dam is expected to help mitigate flooding along the Benue basin while supporting irrigation and electricity generation. ICRC says the project could generate more than 300MW and provide irrigation for more than 150,000 hectares of farmland. That approach is strategically important. PPPs are not only a mechanism for constructing new infrastructure; they can also provide a route for bringing abandoned or underdeveloped public assets back into productive use.

The next phase of the reform agenda is expected to focus heavily on visibility. ICRC has announced plans to publish an updated national PPP projects pipeline, giving investors a clearer picture of opportunities under development across sectors. Such a pipeline can help move Nigeria away from an environment in which potential investors must navigate fragmented information across ministries and agencies.

It also fits into the Commission’s broader effort to position PPP regulation as an investment-enabling function rather than simply an approval process. The challenge, however, remains implementation. Regulatory reform can accelerate transactions, but commercial close is not the same as construction, and approval is not the same as delivery. Successful PPPs ultimately depend on credible sponsors, financing, transparent procurement, effective contract management and strong performance monitoring.

That is why the ICRC’s post-contract role remains as important as its project-development function. Under its statutory mandate, the Commission monitors implementation, contract compliance, performance and disputes across PPP arrangements.

From regulation to delivery

Two years into the Ewalefoh era, the emerging story at ICRC is therefore less about a single flagship project than about institutional redesign. The six-point agenda established the direction. The 2025 PPP Summit expanded the investment conversation. Threshold-based approvals attacked bureaucratic delays. New guidelines created greater procedural clarity. The Model PPP Agreement introduced a common contractual foundation. And a growing portfolio of projects, from airports and highways to hydropower, healthcare, customs modernisation and digital infrastructure, shows how broadly the PPP model is being applied.

The ultimate test will be whether these reforms translate into infrastructure that is completed on time, financed sustainably and delivers value to Nigerians. That is the transformation the ICRC is now attempting to institutionalise – turning PPPs from a regulatory pathway into one of Nigeria’s principal engines for infrastructure delivery and economic growth.

Iliasu writes from Lagos