VenturesNow

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, shortlists firms to build 4th Mainland Bridge. RIP traffic jam?

Published

2 years ago

November 28, 2022

The state government of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, has shortlisted a consortium led by Portugal’s builder Mota-Engil and two Chinese ventures to build a $2.5 billion bridge.

An official of the government revealed that the construction of the bridge is expected to relieve severe congestion in the mega-city.

Lagos is currently home to what used to be the longest bridge in Africa, the Third Mainland Bridge, it was displaced from its position when the 6th October Bridge located in Cairo was completed.

The new project, dubbed Fourth Mainland Bridge, would be a 37-kilometre, to be built under a public-private partnership.

The bridge will include three toll plazas, nine interchanges, and a design speed of 120 kilometres per hour, said Jubril Gawat, a senior spokesperson for the Lagos state governor.

The governor’s spokesperson further revealed that the bid winner will be announced before the end of the year.

Lagos is a densely populated part of Nigeria with a special case of traffic congestion. The state’s population is said to be growing at a percentage rate that is 10 times faster than those of New York and Los Angeles cities in the United States of America.

Lagos currently accommodates 40 percent of the total registered vehicles in Nigeria.

Beyond addressing the traffic challenges of Lagos, the construction of the bridge will plug a big gap in Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit. Specifically for Lagos, Nigeria’s industrial hub, the state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at a round table recently stressed that “given the rising population and limited geography space that we have, Lagos will indeed require about $15 billion over the next five years on infrastructure alone.

Related Topics:4th-Mainland-Bridge Featured Lagos Nigeria

Click to comment

VenturesNow

IMF, Egypt reach agreement for fourth review of Egypt’s $1.2 billion loan request

Published

10 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement over the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which might lead to a $1.2 billion payout under the program.

In March, Egypt, struggling with rising inflation and cash shortages, consented to the $8 billion, 46-month facility. Its economic problems were made worse by a precipitous drop in Suez Canal revenue over the last year due to regional tensions.

Over the next two years, Egypt’s government has committed to raising its tax-to-revenue ratio by 2% of GDP, according to the IMF, emphasising removing exemptions rather than raising taxes.

According to a statement from the IMF, this would allow it to expand social expenditure to support vulnerable populations.

“While the authorities’ plans to streamline and simplify the tax system are commendable, further reforms will be needed to enhance domestic revenue mobilization efforts,” the statement said.

According to the IMF statement, Egypt had also committed to maintaining its commitment to a flexible currency rate and to taking more urgent action to guarantee that the private sector became the primary driver of development.

The IMF’s executive board still has to accept the fourth review’s staff-level agreement.

VenturesNow

Libya’s eastern govt accepts petrol subsidy elimination

Published

10 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a recent statement, the eastern government of Libya claimed it had reached a consensus on a plan to eliminate gasoline subsidies and would draft a mechanism to carry out the accord.

Additional information on the idea was not released by the administration led by Osama Hamad, a challenger to the internationally acknowledged Tripoli-based government.

However, it is uncertain if Hamad’s government would be able to carry out the plan in the divided nation.

According to the Global Petrol Prices online tracker, a litre of gasoline costs just 0.150 Libyan dinars ($0.03) in OPEC member Libya, making it the second-cheapest in the world.

Following an uprising against former ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, smuggling networks have thrived in the ensuing political unrest and armed fighting. In 2014, conflicting eastern and western governments separated the nation.

A World Bank analysis estimates that the annual value of fuel smuggling from Libya is at least $5 billion.

In a meeting with Mari Barrasi, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), located in Tripoli, and four members of the bank’s board of directors, Hamad in Benghazi supported the idea of removing subsidies.

The CBL’s Benghazi branch offices served as the venue for the conference.

The eastern parliament appointed Hamad in 2023 to succeed Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who had been put in position in 2021 under a U.N.-backed procedure that the parliament said had lost its legitimacy.

Dbeibah, who is located in Tripoli, stated in January that he will conduct a public poll on the topic of eliminating gasoline subsidies, but he hasn’t done anything about it since.

According to CBL figures, gasoline subsidies cost 12.8 billion Libyan dinars between January and November of this year. 4.8 Libyan dinars to $1 is the official exchange rate.