Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit remains a major constraint on growth, even as government faces limited fiscal space to fund critical projects. Against this backdrop, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission under Jobson Ewalefoh, is pursuing reforms to make PPPs faster, more predictable and capable of mobilising private capital for infrastructure delivery, writes James Emejo
For years, Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit has presented a paradox: The country has enormous development needs, yet the public purse alone cannot provide the capital required to close the gap.
That reality has made Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) increasingly central to Nigeria’s infrastructure strategy. But attracting private capital is only one part of the equation. Investors need predictable rules, efficient approvals, transparent processes and projects capable of delivering value.
It is against this backdrop that the leadership of Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh, Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), has assumed significance in Nigeria’s evolving PPP ecosystem.
As the federal government agency responsible for regulating and supervising PPP projects, the ICRC occupies a critical position between government institutions seeking infrastructure solutions and private investors looking for viable, bankable opportunities.
Since assuming office, Ewalefoh has pursued a reform-oriented agenda aimed at making Nigeria’s PPP process faster, clearer and more predictable, while strengthening regulatory oversight and ensuring that infrastructure concessions deliver value for money.
Career Built Around Devt Finance and Infrastructure
Ewalefoh brings to the ICRC a career that cuts across development finance, infrastructure, investment promotion and public-sector leadership.
His professional experience spans project finance, project development, strategic planning, investment structuring and institutional reforms designed to improve the investment environment.
His academic background is equally broad. He holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of South Africa (UNISA), alongside an MSc in Economics from Enugu State University of Technology; a Master of Information Technology from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology; an MBA and Master of Public Administration from the University of Abuja and a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Benin.
He has also undertaken executive training at internationally recognised institutions, including Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University and Lagos Business School.
That combination of economics, technology, public administration and development studies has informed an approach to PPP regulation that places emphasis not merely on approving projects, but on improving the structures through which those projects are conceived, financed and delivered.
From Approval Bottlenecks to Faster Project Delivery
One of the most significant changes under Ewalefoh has been the effort to simplify and decentralise the approval process for PPP projects.
Traditionally, lengthy approval procedures have been identified as one of the challenges capable of slowing infrastructure transactions and discouraging prospective investors.
Under the reforms driven by the ICRC, PPP projects have been categorised according to value thresholds, giving Ministries, Departments and Agencies greater room to process projects within defined limits.
Ministries can now approve projects valued at N20 billion and below, while parastatals and agencies can approve projects valued at N10 billion and below. Where a project initiated by an agency or parastatal exceeds N10 billion but remains below N20 billion, the Project Approval Board of its supervising ministry can approve it.
Projects above those thresholds, as well as projects involving multiple MDAs, remain subject to approval by the Federal Executive Council.
The objective is straightforward: ensure that projects do not become unnecessarily trapped in layers of bureaucracy when they fall within clearly defined approval limits.
For the PPP market, the potential impact is considerable. Faster approvals can shorten transaction timelines, improve investor confidence and enable government institutions to respond more quickly to infrastructure needs.
Bringing Greater Certainty to PPP Process
Beyond approval thresholds, Ewalefoh’s administration has also sought to make the PPP process easier for both public institutions and private-sector proponents to navigate.
Clear guidelines have been issued to explain how PPP transactions should progress from inception through procurement and ultimately to financial close.
This is important because infrastructure investors typically assess not only the commercial viability of a project but also the certainty of the regulatory and procurement environment surrounding it.
By clarifying the process, the ICRC is seeking to reduce uncertainty and create a more predictable pathway for projects.
The Commission has also introduced the Model PPP Agreement, providing a standard template for PPP agreements across MDAs, irrespective of the nomenclature used for individual transactions. Standardisation has the potential to reduce ambiguity, improve consistency and give investors a clearer understanding of the contractual architecture within which PPP projects are expected to operate.
Strengthening ICRC’s Regulatory Gatekeeping Role
Another major development under Ewalefoh has been the reinforcement of the ICRC’s central role in Nigeria’s PPP system.
A Presidential directive mandating that PPPs, by whatever name they are called, be routed through the ICRC has strengthened the Commission’s regulatory oversight.
The implication is that PPP arrangements cannot simply be developed independently by government institutions without passing through the country’s designated PPP regulator.
For the ICRC, this creates a stronger platform to ensure that proposed projects are subjected to appropriate scrutiny, including considerations around bankability, transparency, risk allocation and value for money. For investors, it can provide greater assurance that projects are being processed within a recognised national framework.
Turning PPP Pipeline into Investment Opportunities
The reforms are taking place at a time when Nigeria is under increasing pressure to unlock private capital for infrastructure. The country’s requirements extend across virtually every major component of the economy, namely: power, transportation, healthcare, maritime infrastructure and digital connectivity among them.
Government’s ability to finance these requirements solely through conventional budgetary allocations remains constrained. PPPs therefore offer a mechanism through which public assets, private capital, expertise and risk-sharing can be brought together.
Under Ewalefoh’s watch, more than 15 priority PPP projects have received approval, with additional projects reportedly moving through the pipeline.
The significance of these approvals extends beyond the number of projects. Each viable PPP represents the possibility of mobilising capital that would otherwise be difficult for government to deploy on its own. But the success of the model ultimately depends on the quality of those transactions.
The Bankability Question
For Ewalefoh, the challenge appears to extend beyond attracting investors to Nigeria. The projects themselves must be structured in ways that make them capable of attracting financing. That is where the concepts of bankability, transparency and value for money become central. A PPP may be attractive in principle but still fail to secure financing if its revenue model is weak, risks are poorly allocated, contractual obligations are unclear or government commitments are uncertain.
The ICRC’s role therefore goes beyond serving as an approval point. It is also expected to help ensure that projects reaching the market are sufficiently structured to withstand investor and lender scrutiny. This is particularly important in sectors where infrastructure projects require substantial upfront investment and long periods before investors recover their capital.
A More Coordinated Govt Approach
Ewalefoh’s emphasis on collaboration with Ministries, Departments and Agencies is another defining feature of his leadership. PPPs often require several institutions to work together, from the ministry sponsoring a project to regulators, financing institutions and other government bodies responsible for land, taxation, environmental approvals or sector-specific regulation.
Poor coordination can delay projects even where the underlying investment case is strong. The ICRC’s deeper engagement with MDAs is therefore aimed at ensuring that projects move through the PPP cycle with fewer institutional obstacles. The broader objective is to create a government ecosystem in which PPPs are treated as structured investment transactions rather than simply procurement exercises.
What the Reforms Mean for Nigeria
Nigeria’s PPP story is ultimately about more than contracts and concessions. It is about whether the country can transform private capital into roads, ports, power infrastructure, hospitals, digital systems and other assets capable of supporting economic growth.
The success of Ewalefoh’s approach will therefore be judged not simply by the number of projects approved, but by how many reach financial close, achieve construction and operational milestones, deliver expected public benefits and remain commercially sustainable over the life of their concessions. That distinction is critical.
A large PPP pipeline without bankable projects can create the illusion of progress. A smaller pipeline of well-structured projects capable of attracting financing and delivering measurable value may have a much greater economic impact. For this reason, the reforms being pursued at the ICRC represent an important shift in emphasis – from simply having PPP projects on paper to creating a more efficient institutional framework capable of taking projects from concept to investment and ultimately to infrastructure delivery.
The Road Ahead
The next phase of Nigeria’s PPP development will require sustained implementation. Investor confidence must be maintained. Government agencies must continue to build technical capacity. Projects must be transparently procured. Contracts must be properly structured and monitored. And the balance between private-sector returns and public interest must remain at the heart of every transaction. Ewalefoh’s leadership at the ICRC is taking place within this challenge. His six-point policy agenda, the streamlining of approval thresholds, the issuance of clearer transaction guidelines, the Model PPP Agreement, stronger regulatory oversight and the growing pipeline of priority projects collectively point towards an attempt to make Nigeria’s PPP environment more coordinated and investment-ready.
For a country confronting a huge infrastructure financing gap, that transformation could prove consequential. The real measure of the ICRC’s current reform drive, however, will ultimately be visible beyond government offices and approval documents in the infrastructure delivered, the investment mobilised and the economic opportunities created for Nigerians.
If the current trajectory is sustained, Ewalefoh’s tenure could come to be defined not merely by the number of PPP transactions processed, but by a broader institutional shift in how Nigeria conceives, structures, finances and delivers infrastructure through partnerships with the private sector.