The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has announced it will officially open the bid for Value Added Concession for federal roads under the Highway Development and Management Initiative on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
The Ministry made the announcement on Sunday, saying the bid would be witnessed by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and other interested partners and stakeholders.
The 12 roads for concession under the first phase of the Highway Development and Management Initiative include; Benin-Asaba, Abuja-Lokoja, Kaduna-Kano, Onitsha-Owerri-Aba, Shagamu-Benin, Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga federal highways, Lokoja-Benin, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Ilorin-Jebba, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta, Lagos-Badagry, and Kano-Shuari-PortisKum-Damaturu roads.
Recall that in December 2020, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, received the Certificate of Compliance for the Outline Business Case for the HDMI, followed by the official inauguration of the e-portal by the minister on March 29, 2021.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Works and Housing, Boade Akinola, said applications were received from interested prospective concessionaires in response to the request for qualification and the bid would be opened on June 1, 2021.
The ministry said the initiative is aimed at creating an alternative source of financing road development and management across the country while creating an atmosphere for massive economic potential of the project routes with attendant job creation.