The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh, has called on ECOWAS member states to strengthen regional Public-Private Partnership (PPP) collaboration to address West Africa’s widening infrastructure deficit.
Speaking on Saturday, July 11, 2026, during a panel session at the ECOWAS Infrastructure Forum held at the Noom Hotel in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Ewalefoh emphasised that public finances alone are no longer sufficient to fund critical roads, railways, power, and water projects across the sub-region.
In a statement released on Sunday, July 12, 2026, by the ICRC Spokesperson, Ifeanyi Nwoko, the Director-General asserted that Nigeria has built robust regulatory and legal models capable of being replicated across West Africa.
Ewalefoh advocated for the establishment of a regional network of national PPP institutions across ECOWAS states to harmonize appraisal standards, share technical expertise, and coordinate cross-border projects.
He cited Nigeria’s structured PPP safeguards, including clear eligibility criteria, non-refundable application fees, performance bonds, and the Swiss Challenge procurement method, as proven frameworks to ensure project viability and investor confidence.
He urged governments to embrace well-regulated, private-sector-initiated proposals, noting that private developers can identify viable infrastructure needs, bear initial project preparation costs, and reduce financial burdens on states.
Ewalefoh challenged international development partners to allocate more funding toward project preparation, identifying the scarcity of “bankable” projects as a major bottleneck to attracting private capital in Africa.
The panel session, which featured senior government officials and PPP experts from Ghana, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire, concluded with a consensus that standardized regional PPP frameworks remain the most viable strategy to unlock private capital and accelerate economic development across West Africa.
