The Securities and Exchange Commission has said the establishment of an active infrastructure fund in the capital market will be beneficial in closing the infrastructure gap in the country.
The acting Director General, SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, stated this while speaking at a conference in Lagos.
Uduk, who was represented by the Head, External Relations Department, SEC, Mr Sufian Abdulkarim, said international capital markets were the largest and deepest pool of financing in the world.
She noted that local capital markets, which represented an essentially untapped source of funds for infrastructure projects, could make a huge contribution to economic development if effective transaction structures were developed.
Uduk said, “The government cannot be the sole provider/promoter of infrastructure projects; private sector investment in infrastructure sector is also required.
“Given the need to bridge the infrastructure deficit and the challenges of financing it, the county needs to leverage alternative sources of infrastructure financing such as the capital market.”
She stated that in view of the government’s bid to reverse the current growth trend, diversify the economy and develop infrastructure, there was no better time than now to leverage the capital market for sourcing infrastructure development financing.