Nigeria and Sweden Strengthen Partnership on Project Preparation and Sustainable Infrastructure Financing

Nigeria and Sweden Strengthen Partnership on Project Preparation and Sustainable Infrastructure Financing

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, on Monday, received the Ambassador of Sweden to Nigeria, H.E. Ambassador Anna Westerholm, on a courtesy visit to discuss the Team Sweden proposal aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s project preparation capacity and enhancing access to sustainable infrastructure financing.

The engagement reaffirmed the strong bilateral partnership between Nigeria and Sweden and explored practical areas of collaboration to support Nigeria’s development priorities.

Welcoming the Swedish delegation, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu expressed appreciation for Sweden’s continued support and noted that the engagement was timely, coming as Nigeria finalizes its 2026–2030 National Development Plan. He emphasized that Nigeria’s development strategy is anchored on private sector–led growth and that many of the country’s ambitious infrastructure priorities will require public-private partnerships and concessionary frameworks.

The Minister highlighted Nigeria’s priorities in infrastructure, energy, water resources, transport, and climate-related projects, noting that the Federal Government plans to extend project preparation support to subnational governments to help states develop viable and bankable investment opportunities. He identified limited project preparation capacity as a major constraint to attracting private capital, stressing that investors increasingly require well-structured, investment-ready projects.

To address this challenge, Senator Bagudu disclosed that the Federal Government has established a Project Preparation Fund and is coordinating key institutions across the infrastructure ecosystem, including the Ministry of Finance, the Debt Management Office, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, the Bureau of Public Enterprises, regulatory authorities, the Sovereign Investment Authority, and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated. He also noted ongoing collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and described Sweden’s technical assistance as complementary and critical to Nigeria’s reform and investment mobilization agenda.

The Minister reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to co-funding the initiative and sharing priority areas for support, adding that the partnership would help identify systemic gaps, improve risk perception, and strengthen Nigeria’s ability to attract global private capital. He further stated that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had been briefed on the engagement and that the collaboration aligns with the administration’s broader economic reform and development agenda.

Ambassador Anna Westerholm described the visit as her first formal engagement with the Ministry and reaffirmed Sweden’s commitment to deepening cooperation with Nigeria. She praised Nigeria’s reform agenda and recognized the central role of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in driving economic transformation and long-term infrastructure development. The Ambassador stated that Team Sweden, which brings together public and private sector expertise, is ready to support Nigeria in strengthening institutional capacity and preparing sustainable, bankable infrastructure projects aligned with international standards. She added that Sweden is prepared to propose concrete steps forward, guided by Nigeria’s priorities and institutional arrangements.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry,Dr Deborah Odoh welcomed the Swedish delegation and expressed appreciation for the enduring partnership between Nigeria and Sweden.She noted that the meeting provided an important opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation and expressed confidence that the deliberations would yield tangible outcomes.