Lagos State will rely on private investors to finance the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge, with the project’s funding prospects partly dependent on motorists’ willingness to pay tolls, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat has said.
Hamzat said on Tuesday that the state could not finance the bridge from its own resources while simultaneously funding major rail projects, adding that the government was in talks with prospective investors from Portugal, China and other countries.
Speaking during an interview on Lagos Television, the deputy governor, who is the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, said the state had completed the project’s design and cost assessment and engaged private-sector professionals to support negotiations with potential investors.
“The Fourth Mainland Bridge is a fantastic project that we must build, but we cannot fund it on our balance sheet and fund rail at the same time. They are both monster projects, so we’ve been talking to investors,” Hamzat said.
He explained that the state had chosen a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement instead of borrowing to finance the bridge, citing the potential financial pressure additional debt could place on the government.
“We will build it with partnerships, but it’s also important that we know that it will be expensive and we cannot—we don’t want to borrow to build it because it might be a challenge for us. So that’s why we believe it must be a partnership; it must be a PPP,” he said.
Hamzat identified toll revenue as a key factor in attracting private investment, explaining that investors needed a reliable way to recover their capital and earn returns.
“When we pay tolls on our road, and we stop it, investors are not going to come. How do they get their money? Return on investments. How will they get it?” he asked.
According to the deputy governor, some prospective investors have raised concerns about motorists’ reluctance to pay tolls, particularly where toll collection has previously been discontinued.
He said the state was presenting traffic data and other relevant information to potential investors to demonstrate the expected volume of road users and the bridge’s revenue-generating potential.
Hamzat stressed that the government needed to address investors’ concerns and provide sufficient assurance that their investments would generate viable returns.
The proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge is intended to provide an additional major transport route across Lagos and ease pressure on existing roads. The project has been considered by successive state administrations, with funding requirements and construction costs remaining significant challenges.
Hamzat said the state remained committed to delivering the project but did not intend to finance it entirely from public funds or through additional borrowing.
Instead, the government plans to pursue a partnership under which private investors would provide funding and recover their investments through revenue generated by the infrastructure.
