Growing Infrastructure Course Testimonial

The cohort brings a strong mix of backgrounds, so conversations have been rich, open, and solutions-oriented—people are generous with lessons learned and quick to share tools and comparable examples from their unique markets.

Share with us the interactions you had with our speakers and participants.

My experience attending the Growing Infrastructure Course: Integrated Sustainable Land Transport Systems has been very positive, both with the facilitators and with fellow participants. The sessions are practical and grounded in real delivery experience, and the Q&As have been especially useful for pressure-testing ideas and getting candid perspectives on the viability and bankability of land transport infrastructure projects. 

The cohort brings a strong mix of backgrounds, so conversations (especially during breaks and group work) have been rich, open, and solutions-oriented—people are generous with lessons learned and quick to share tools and comparable examples from their unique markets.
 

Tell us about the most impactful element for you in the programme. 

The most impactful elements in the programme have been the bankability considerations in financing transport projects, master planning frameworks, and the nexus between urban planning, transport planning, and economic planning. 

These, in my view, are the basis for sustainable transport—linking policy choices, financing/PPP structuring, and bankability/operability trade-offs, rather than treating each topic in isolation.
 

How will you apply what you have learned in the programme when you are back at work?

Back at NSIA, I will apply the programme learnings to strengthen how we conceptualise transport and logistics project, take infrastructure investment opportunities from pipeline screening through due diligence, structuring, and post-investment performance management—so projects are not only financeable, but also deliverable and operable over their full life cycle.

In practical terms, I plan to amplify the use of economic (impact) viability criteria and not financial viability to define bankable KPIs and encourage realistic assumptions (ridership/traffic, tariffs, cost recovery, lifecycle costs) to appraise and develop investment case. 

Also, I plan the encourage the National and State Government to take on CAPEX cost of metro projects while incorporating private sector long-term O&M readiness, safety/reliability standards, and ESG/climate resilience requirements into PPP or concession terms, then monitor performance through a practical post-investment dashboard.
 

Iruansi Itoandon

Senior Vice President, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority

Download Testimonial