Abstract:
Niger-Delta region of Nigeria is the oil producing area that drives Nigeria’s economic mainstay. It is evident that the region is peculiar with fewer infrastructural facilities and those that are available are in bad condition especially in the oil exploration areas of the region. Due to the need to fast track economic development of this region through the provision of enabling infrastructure facilities, the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs was created. Despite this few infrastructure projects were able to be fixed due to financial capital constraints. The government needs collaboration with the private investors in order to provide the much needed infrastructure in the region. Hence, calls for the strategy of attracting investors to PPP infrastructure projects in the region. The study involved four categories of population: the 12 identified PPP infrastructure projects located within the 3 sections of the region; the 180 participants involved in the projects; the 60 interviewees and the 18 respondents for the focus group discussion. Census sampling approach was adopted in the study due the consideration of the whole population. Primary data were collected through administration of questionnaires on identified factors influencing the private sectors’ decision to invest in PPP infrastructure projects in Niger-Delta region of Nigeria; and assess the risk factors associated with PPP infrastructure projects in the study area; and. Interviews were also conducted on experienced respondents and it was ensured that each of the group of stakeholders were represented. Focus group discussion was conducted for the validation of the developed framework for attracting investors. The data collected were analyzed using mean index scores, standard deviation, Kreskas-Wallis One-Way ANOVA chi-square and factor analysis. The results of the study revealed the top 10 most occurrence risk factors ranging from 3.75 to 3.97. The first five among them in order of occurrence are inflation rate, high costs of financing, level of demand for the project, corruption and lack of respect for law. The study concluded that the results of this research will provide a useful tool for rapid understanding between the three stakeholders of PPP infrastructure project. Hence, for stall cordial relationship and satisfactory security needed for investment growth in the region. The study recommended that confidence-building measures through establishment of fora between the private and public sectors and end users to discuss economic impact and social value of the infrastructure projects for growth, determination of the priority of the infrastructure projects and the challenges to be put in place to eradicate future conflicts.
