Attempting to bridge Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, here is how President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development (RHID) programme is to be funded in the ₦6.2 trillion budget increase
Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges have long hindered its economic growth. President Bola Tinubu‘s solution is encapsulated in the ‘Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF)’ moniker. It arguably evolved from the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) established by President Muhammadu Buhari. So is it a case of an old wine in a new wineskin?
How it started
On March 25, 2024, the federal executive council approved the creation of the RHIDF to tackle the nation’s infrastructure needs. According to Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information & strategy, in a statement on X said Nigeria requires $35 billion annually until 2040 for infrastructure development. Recognizing this immense financial demand, former President Buhari had earlier in his administration initiated the PIDF to fund critical projects like the second niger bridge and Lagos-Ibadan expressway. However, the PIDF assumedly faced challenges such as funding constraints and bureaucratic delays.
The transition to RHIDF
Under President Bola Tinubu‘s administration, the RHIDF was conceived as a transformative solution, designed to overcome previous obstacles. Managed directly from the presidency, the RHIDF aims to streamline processes and accelerate project delivery. Tinubu, recalling his successful establishment of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), envisions similar achievements nationwide, focusing on roads, rail, agriculture, and more. Onanuga stated that the RHIDF “will provide the elixir for critical national projects that will accelerate infrastructure and economic development in all parts of the country. With eyes on raising N20 Trillion, about $14 billion take-off capital, the Fund will support projects that will promote growth, enhance local value-addition through backward, forward and parallel linkages.”
Funding and financial strategies
The question of financing looms large. Following a request from President Tinubu, the National Assembly amended the 2024 appropriation act, increasing the national budget by ₦6.2 trillion, with ₦3.2 trillion allocated specifically for infrastructure. This decisive move raises the budget to ₦35.055 trillion. Below is the breakdown of how this money is intended to be spent:
- On the national railway construction project, ₦530 billion is designated to the first part of the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri lines (said to transverse Rivers, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and Borno) while the second part is Badagry, Tin Can Port, Lekki Port, Ijebu Ode and Lokoja. The third part includes Lagos to Ibadan standard gauge while the fourth part is funding of rolling stock and the fifth part is Kano to Maradi standard gauge.
- ₦700 billion was earmarked for the following national highway construction projects: Lagos to Calabar coastal road ( To transverse Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Port Harcourt, Akwa Ibom and Cross River).
- Sokoto to Badagry road (to traverse Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos) will gulb ₦250 billion.
- African trans-Sahara highway (to transverse Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Abuja) route was allocated ₦200 billion.
More borrowing to fund financing shortfall
Meanwhile Senator Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning, while addressing a joint committee of the national assembly informed that the supplementary budget would be partly funded by the N50 billion Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), currently held by the National Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority (NSWIA). However, he acknowledged that the N50 billion in the fund would not be sufficient to finance the renewed hope projects. Consequently, the federal government has approached the World Bank for a $2.5 billion loan, among other revenue sources. The minister disclosed that the World Bank management would soon meet to decide on the approval of the loan.
