13 October 2021 – Nigeria Country Level Event

Peter Oborn from the UKBEAG welcomed those present, invited them to make introductions and provided an overview of the event.

Mr Emmanuel Oluwadamilola, General Manager at the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) provided an overview of progress with the preparation of a business case for the development of a Public and Freight Water Transportation network. It was noted that this project has been accepted for inclusion in the UN Habitat Cities Investment Facility (CIF), the only project in the entire Global Futures Cities Programme to have done so at the time of writing.

Honourable Commissioner Dairo, from the Ogun State Ministry of Transportation provided an overview of the project to develop a public transport policy and associated capacity building. It was noted that one of the anticipated spin-offs from both projects was the potential offered for Transit Oriented Development to help support economic regeneration, and this formed the focus for the remainder of the event.

Mr Roger Madelin CBE, formerly Development Director for Argent (the developer of Kings Cross) gave a short presentation on development of the Kings Cross regeneration project in London in which he outlined the origins of the project and the development process. It was noted at the outset that the project originated from the coming together of multiple landowners who realised that the value of the whole was substantially greater than the sum of the parts.

Mr Alessandro Ercolani, UN Human Rights Expert, gave a short presentation focused on mechanisms for achieving equitable resettlement when working with informal settlements. Mr Chris Hutchinson, Head of Investment and Mr Amos Mthembo, Quantity Surveyor at Reall considered what investors are seeking in terms of Green and Climate Smart Affordable Housing for the lowest 40%, together with lessons learnt by Reall in Nigeria and beyond.

Ms Karineh Grigorian, Commercial Manager at HM Treasury, Infrastructure & Projects Authority provided a short framing presentation focused on effective business case preparation based upon the 5 Case method. Ms Astrid Haas, Council Member at Cities That work at the International Growth Centre and Mr Roger Madelin, engaged in a discussion focused on project finance and risk allocation, with a contribution from Mr Ryan Sequeira, from UN Habitat on the Cities Investment Facility.

Key Takeaways:

• Across the interventions, the teams have emphasised the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement as a critical ingredient for the interventions’ success. This includes engaging with various public sector stakeholders, the private sector, and the communities that are likely to be impacted by the projects. In Lagos, technical and stakeholder engagement committees have been set up to this end to provide an effective authorising environment for the interventions. This is particularly important for urban renewal projects that aim to reshape the built environment in a significant manner.
• Leveraging private capital and expertise is recognised as an important part of these interventions, especially as they move towards implementation. In Lagos, the freight terminal is being procured under the public–private partnership model, which can provide technical and fiscal capacity for the implementation of the water transport intervention.
• Cross-country learning can play an important role in impacting the scope and design of these interventions. A stand-out example is the lessons that can be drawn from the King’s Cross development in London in underscoring how well-managed urban renewal can unlock growth when combined with new transport investments. Similarly, Transport for Greater Manchester has previously shared its experience of managing inter-modal transport with its Nigerian counterparts in the field of effective intra-modal public transport.