Alternative Bank Seeks Private Capital To Fund Nigeria’s Infrastructure

By Johnson Emmanuel

The Alternative Bank has called for greater private-sector participation in financing Nigeria’s infrastructure, stating at the Nigeria Infrastructure Conference 2026 in Abuja that public budgets cannot meet requirements across power, transport, digital connectivity and subnational development. Branch Manager, Dei-Dei Branch, Jacob Achem, represented the bank’s divisional head at the session, “Financing Infrastructure, Unlocking Private Capital”, where he advocated bankable projects, stronger partnerships and alternative financing structures to attract long-term capital.

DECISION HIGHLIGHT

The central financing problem is shifting from identifying infrastructure deficits to structuring projects capable of attracting private capital. The Alternative Bank’s emphasis on non-interest finance adds another potential channel by linking investment to productive assets and measurable project outcomes.

DECISION MEMO

Nigeria’s infrastructure challenge increasingly exposes the limits of fiscal financing. Government resources must compete with security, health, education, debt service and social expenditure, leaving insufficient budgetary capacity for the scale of infrastructure required.

Achem therefore framed private capital not as a supplementary source of funding but as a necessary component of the infrastructure financing architecture. “The infrastructure gap is too large to be addressed by public funding alone,” he said. “We need to unlock private capital and create financing structures that allow more investors to participate in Nigeria’s development.”

That shift has an important implication. Capital availability is only part of the problem. Investors require projects with credible revenue models, appropriate risk allocation, predictable regulation and sufficient cash-flow visibility to support long-term financing.

The conference discussions across maritime and blue economy, power and renewable energy, digital infrastructure and subnational development underline the breadth of the financing requirement. These sectors also carry different risk profiles, meaning a single financing model is unlikely to be adequate.

For The Alternative Bank, non-interest finance provides another route into this architecture. “Non-interest finance gives us another way to think about capital deployment,” Achem said. “It connects financing with productive assets, sustainable projects, and real economic value.”

The approach potentially broadens the pool of investors and aligns financing with identifiable assets and project performance. Its effectiveness, however, will depend on whether infrastructure projects are sufficiently structured to provide viable commercial returns while meeting development objectives.

The more important policy question is consequently project preparation. “The question is no longer whether Nigeria needs infrastructure,” Achem said. “The question is how quickly we can bring the right capital, structures, and partnerships together to deliver it.”

That places greater emphasis on government’s role as project enabler rather than sole financier. Stronger project preparation, credible procurement, transparent concessions and predictable regulatory frameworks can reduce perceived risks and improve the bankability of infrastructure assets.

DATA BOX

• Conference: Nigeria Infrastructure Conference 2026
• Location: Abuja
• Date: 14-15 July 2026
• Theme: Mobilising Private Capital for Sustainable Infrastructure Development in Nigeria
• Priority sectors: Power, renewables, transport, maritime, digital infrastructure and subnational development
• Financing approach highlighted: Non-interest finance
• Core requirement: Bankable projects capable of attracting long-term capital

WHO WINS / WHO LOSES

Who wins: Infrastructure developers, long-term investors, financial institutions and communities if private capital accelerates project delivery and expands productive capacity.

Who loses: Projects without viable commercial structures face continued financing constraints, while Nigeria bears the economic cost of prolonged infrastructure deficits.

POLICY SIGNALS

Government policy needs to focus increasingly on project preparation, risk allocation, regulatory predictability and investment structures capable of converting infrastructure priorities into bankable assets.

INVESTOR SIGNAL

Infrastructure presents a potentially larger private-capital opportunity if projects offer transparent revenue models and credible risk-adjusted returns. Non-interest finance could widen participation where asset-backed structures align investor requirements with development objectives.

RISK RADAR

The principal risks are weak project preparation, regulatory uncertainty, inadequate revenue structures, political and execution risks, and mismatched investor expectations. Private capital will not automatically close the infrastructure gap; bankability must precede financing.