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Mr. Uche Orji, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), operator of the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), has announced that the concession agreement for the Second Niger Bridge PPP project is expected to be signed in the second half of 2016. Mr. Uche Orji stated:

“It’s being well developed; it’s being well structured. With what has been done with the 2016 budget, I am impressed and confident that the project is on course.”

In March 2014, NMIC and Julius Berger Investments Ltd. (JBI) signed a Cooperation Agreement for NMIC to act as financial investor in the project. At that time, NMIC substituted African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), the fund manager owned by Old Mutual Investment Group (South Africa), which was part of the winning consortium back in December 2012.

Mr. Uche Orji added speaking at a media briefing in Abuja that the realisation of the project was still very much alive. He noted that having successfully completed Early Works III (EW3) of the project in January 2016, coupled with the N17 billion allocation for the project in this year’s budget, the engagement towards facilitating financial closure had been given further impetus.

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis for a period of 25 years. NSIA Motorways Investment Company (NMIC), a motorway subsidiary of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), would lead the consortium to raise the funding required for the execution of the project, while Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is expected to play the role of EPC contractor on the project.

The bridge, which forms part of the Arterial Route A232; Enugu-Onitsha-Asaba-Benin-Shagamu, is 1,590 m in length and it is located 1.7km downstream of the existing bridge on a new alignment.

The total project investment is estimated at N117 billion (US$587.2 million).

To complement and add value to the second Niger Bridge, the Federal Government, with the support of the World Bank, is expected to develop two by-passes:

• The first by-pass will be a connecting dual-carriageway from Arterial Route A232, Benin-Asaba Expressway, by-passing Asaba and its airport, to link the second Niger Bridge.
• The second by-pass will also be a connecting dual-carriageway from Arterial Route A232, Onitsha-Enugu Expressway to Arterial Route A6, Onitsha-Owerri Expressway by the new full Clover Interchange, which is a major part of the second Niger Bridge project, effectively by-passing Onitsha to link the new bridge.