A Sustainable Funding for the Maintenance of Critical Urban Infrastructure in Nigeria

Abstract

Urban infrastructures foster rapid economic growth and development of cities, sub-national and national economies. However, most developing nations including Nigeria are experiencing huge infrastructural deficit which requires scarce financial resources to fix. Traditionally, governments used tax revenues and bonds/loans to fund public infrastructural development and maintenance; however, tax revenues have declined in Nigeria while bank loans are very expensive. Similarly, corporate financiers have now incorporated “sustainability†clause into infrastructural finances to mitigate and ameliorate negative impact of construction works on the natural environment, communities and livelihoods, which often increases project (infrastructural development) costs in the short-run but boosts financial and non-financial returns in the long-run. To overcome the infrastructural funding challenges, resources are now being pooled from the public, people and private (PPP) stakeholders and managed with sustainability doctrines.

Keywords: sustainable funding, physical infrastructure, social infrastructure, economic development, Nigeria