Tinubu says $1.1bn Funding Deal Seals Momentum for Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway
Why Tinubu’s Coastal Highway Is Becoming Nigeria’s Most Bankable Infrastructure Bet
Nigeria’s long-ambitioned Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway has crossed a decisive financial milestone, as the Federal Government successfully closed a $1.126 billion financing package for Phase 1, Section 2 of the project—reinforcing its status as one of the most ambitious and bankable road infrastructure developments in Africa today.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu hailed the deal as a strategic breakthrough, noting that the successful close ensures uninterrupted progress on a project central to his administration’s Renewed Hope infrastructure and growth agenda.
Beyond the headline figure, the transaction signals a deeper shift: global capital is once again willing to underwrite Nigerian infrastructure at scale, provided reforms, governance, and execution credibility align.
The Numbers Behind the Breakthrough
Phase 1, Section 2 spans 55.7 kilometres, stretching from Eleko (Lekki axis) to Ode-Omi, a corridor that links Nigeria’s commercial heartland to emerging industrial, logistics, and tourism zones along the Atlantic coast.
This latest close builds on the earlier $747 million financing secured for Phase 1, Section 1, underscoring the project’s scalability, financial structure, and lender confidence.
Crucially, the financing was fully underwritten—a rare achievement for Nigerian road infrastructure—by:
- First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)
- Afreximbank
With partial risk mitigation provided by the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), marking its largest Nigeria-linked transaction since recent institutional and regulatory reforms.
Why This Deal Matters Beyond Roads
From a development-economics perspective, the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is not merely a transport project—it is a trade, productivity, and competitiveness intervention.
Once completed, the highway is expected to:
- Reduce logistics costs along Nigeria’s southern trade belt
- Decongest overstretched inland road networks
- Improve port-to-market efficiency
- Unlock tourism, fisheries, manufacturing, and coastal industrial clusters
- Strengthen Nigeria’s position within West and Central African trade corridors
In macro terms, the project aligns with Nigeria’s urgent need to shift growth from consumption-driven to productivity-led, using infrastructure as a multiplier across sectors.
A New Template for Infrastructure Finance
According to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the transaction represents the first fully underwritten financing of this scale for a Nigerian road project, setting a precedent for future infrastructure funding.
What makes the deal especially notable is the depth of governance and risk discipline built into the structure:
- SkyKapital served as Lead Financial Adviser, coordinating lender engagement and execution
- Earth Active (UK) provided Environmental and Social advisory services
- Compliance was benchmarked against IFC Performance Standards, Equator Principles, and global ESG best practices
- Hogan Lovells acted as International Legal Counsel
- Templars served as Nigerian Legal Counsel
- A comprehensive Value-for-Money assessment was independently reviewed by GIBB
For global lenders, these layers reduce uncertainty. For Nigeria, they signal a maturing approach to infrastructure delivery.
Execution Credibility: The Silent Game-Changer
Financing follows credibility—and lenders have taken note of the early execution pace delivered by Hitech Construction Company Limited, the project contractor.
The company’s timely delivery of initial road sections has been cited as a key confidence driver, reinforcing the idea that Nigeria’s infrastructure risk premium can fall when projects move from promise to performance.
This shift—from stalled mega-projects to visible progress—is central to restoring long-term investor trust.
What Comes Next
With Phase 1 financing now substantially secured, attention turns to:
- Sustained execution discipline
- Transparent disbursement and reporting
- Replication of this funding model across rail, power, and logistics infrastructure
For the Tinubu administration, the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is fast becoming more than a road—it is a proof-of-concept for reform-driven infrastructure financing in Nigeria.
If delivery momentum holds, the project could redefine how Africa’s largest economy funds and executes its most critical economic arteries.
