Nume Ekeghe

Financial markets expert and Managing Director of NG Clearing, Mr. Farooq Oreagba, has said that Africa is on the verge of unveiling an innovative financing model to bridge its infrastructure gap a move he believes could transform the continent’s development trajectory.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, Oreagba said he and a team of professionals have been engaging with key institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), to design alternative financing structures that can unlock large-scale funding for infrastructure projects across Africa.

According to him, “As you know, Africa has a huge infrastructure gap, and doing the same thing repeatedly will not yield new results. My colleagues and I have been working on alternative ways of raising finance to help cover this gap. We’ve had promising discussions with the AfDB, even before this conference, and came up with a solution that the President is very excited about. We’ll be meeting him again to finalise the details.”

Oreagba explained that the new model aims to allow multilateral lenders to provide loans without impacting their balance sheets a breakthrough that could multiply available funds for development financing.

He added: “Normally, loans from multilaterals sit on their balance sheets, which limits their lending capacity. But with this structure, they can lend without that constraint, allowing them to leverage and extend significantly larger sums possibly two or three times more. Combined with PPP-type arrangements and private sector participation, it could channel billions more into African economies.”

On Nigeria’s growing reform momentum and renewed global confidence, Oreagba said the accolades from global institutions such as the IMF and World Bank must translate into tangible results for citizens.