SINOSURE pulls out of Nigerian AKK pipeline funding

(Guardian.NG, Abuja, 19 April 2023) Financiers of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano pipeline have pulled out of the project, citing an alleged 570% inflated contract sum, far above global threshold. Infrastructure and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Infrastructure Bank of China and China Export Credit Agency (SINOSURE) – were to provide 85% or $2.38 billion of the funding requirement. Their Nigerian counterparts, Oilserve and Oando, are to shoulder the balance 15% or $420 million. With this development, the project has been stalled, as there is no funding to cover cost of the second and third legs from Abuja to Kaduna and Kaduna to Kano. It was learnt that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), through the Nigeria Gas Transport Processing Company (NGTPC), had attempted to bridge the funding gap, but lacked the needed liquidity.  Globally, the cost of high-pressure transmission gas pipelines is built at $800,000 per kilometre. In Nigeria, the Final Investment Decision (FID) for EPC was scheduled at $4,560,260 million, which is a 570% inflation above global standards.These examples clearly show that Nigeria has the highest cost of contract in the world. These companies cannot afford to go into cahoots with Nigerians because they would be easily caught when they submit their financial reports to their countries of origin.”