This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Manji Yarling, the Acting Head, Media and Publicity  ICRC,  in Abuja on Wednesday.

Yarling said the Acting Director-General of the Commission, Mr Michael Ohiani, said this at the first meeting of the Nigerian Public Private Partnership Network (NPPPN).

He said that the NPPPN  brings together all heads of PPP at the state level under the coordination of the ICRC and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

Reports t have it that the meeting was the first in the series for 2022, with the theme: “PPP in the Health Sector”,  which featured Commissioners of Health from across Nigeria.

Yarling said the meeting provided a platform to share experiences and explore opportunities for scaling up PPP in healthcare across other states using NPPPN.

The statement quoted Ohiani as saying “the ICRC has also been supporting Nigerian states to adopt PPP models to boost their infrastructure development”.

The acting director-general commended states that were already adopting PPP models, pledging the commission’s support to all other states to develop and operationalise bankable PPP projects.

“Since its establishment, ICRC has blazed the trail in establishing and institutionalising the use of PPPs in Nigeria for our economic development.

“The commission has even gone beyond the federal level to now partner with the states that require guidance and capacity on how to go about the PPP processes”.

Ohiani said that ICRC facilitated a World Bank sponsored APMG’s certified PPP practitioners course for 60 Nigerian government staff at the federal and state levels in addition to building PPP capacity.

According to him, APM Group International is a reputable global accreditation and examination institute.

“During the year, the commission will encourage global certification through the Nigeria Institute of Infrastructure and PPPs like the APMG Certified PPP Practitioner for our members until it becomes a routine process for use in Nigeria.

“With our population and the available market, we are setting our sight on being the PPP knowledge base in Africa,” he said.

The acting director-general who gave a breakdown of the commission’s achievements since its inception,  said that as of April 25, the commission had issued a total of 105 Outline Business Case Certificates.

He said that  the commission had also issued 48 Full Business Case Certificates as well as secured 51 PPP approvals by the Federal Executive Council.

The statement also quoted the Director-General, NGF, Asishana Okauru, represented by the Executive Director, Strategy, Dr Abdulateef Shittu, as saying, ” this meeting is part of moves to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 economic downturn.”

Okauru said that the meeting underscored the fact that access to essential health services was an important aspect of development.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has not only shaped the way we live and interact, but it has also exposed the fragility of our healthcare systems.

“Now more than ever, we must be innovative in addressing the myriad of healthcare development challenges that we face as a nation.

“While the public sector is responsible to provide key public services, the private sector is critical to harness the expertise and realise the value of state-owned resources,” he said.

Okauru said that the meeting also provided an avenue for peer learning and experience sharing with commissioners for Health from states sharing knowledge and experiences in preparing and executing bankable healthcare PPP projects.

The statement noted the high points of the meeting including the presentation by representatives of Kaduna and Yobe states of PPP projects being implemented in the health sector of their respective states.

Dr Amina Baloni, Kaduna State Commissioner for Health,  informed the forum that the state was already implementing two PPP projects in the health sector called Zipline and PMG MAN.

Baloni explained that Zipline is a logistics network of autonomous delivery drones to improve access and availability of routine emergency medicine to health facilities.

According to him, the project comprises 30 drones that can serve more than 1,000 health facilities.

For PMG MAN, the commissioner said that the PPP project was conceived by the government to ensure the supply of quality, affordable and essential drug medicines to citizens through PMG-MAN local Pharmaceutical companies.

She said that since the implementation of the project, the fill rate of orders by health facilities had grown to 76.85 per cent from 38.41 per cent, while shelf availability of essential medicines in pharmacies had also increased.

The commissioner said that the state government was already looking to concession a 300-bed hospital, while also seeking opportunities in certain services including dialysis, radio imaging, laboratory and supply chain, among others.