Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, has called for stronger private sector participation in public development projects, saying governments must create the right conditions to turn available capital into roads, healthcare facilities, irrigation projects and jobs.
A statement signed by Ibrahim kaula Mohammad, chief press secretary to the Governor, said Governor Radda made the call while delivering special remarks at the inaugural ASIS Global Action Forum, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
The Forum, convened by the Sterling One Foundation with UNFPA, RALLY Africa and other partners, brought together senior leaders and decision-makers from government, investment, development finance, business and philanthropy to discuss new approaches to financing development.
Speaking from the experience of Katsina State, Governor Radda said the major challenge is no longer the absence of financing options, but how to attract private capital into public projects and build partnerships that can deliver lasting development.
“Our constraint is not the absence of financing options. Katsina has benefited from 11 World Bank projects with a combined portfolio of about $430 million across education, water, rural roads, agriculture and environmental development,” the Governor disclosed.
He cited projects including AGILE in girls’ education, BESDA and TESS in basic education, ACRESAL for land restoration, SURWASH in water supply and RAAMP for rural road development, alongside a new generation of interventions including SOLID, AGROW, SPIN and the Nigeria for Women Programme.
Governor Radda also disclosed that the African Development Bank is financing the state’s Agro-Industrial Processing Zone with $30 million, while the Islamic Development Bank is providing $60 million for the first phase of the Integrated Agricultural Development Hubs.
Despite these financing opportunities, the Governor said private capital has yet to play the expected role in public projects, particularly at the subnational level. “The sources have multiplied. What has not multiplied is private capital sitting inside public projects,” he said.
Governor Radda explained that investors are often held back by uncertain revenue, untested off-take arrangements, currency risks, inadequate project preparation and concerns over the continuity of contracts across administrations. He maintained that these challenges are not beyond solution if governments and their partners deliberately address them.
To close the gap, Governor Radda outlined four areas requiring urgent attention: stronger Public-Private Partnership frameworks, effective de-risking mechanisms, disciplined counterpart funding, and transparent monitoring and evaluation.
On policy, he called for legally sound and transparent subnational PPP frameworks that can withstand political transitions, alongside proper project preparation that presents investors with bankable transactions rather than proposals without clear financial structures.
The Governor also advocated guarantees, first-loss capital, viability gap funding, currency hedging and political risk cover that can work at the scale and speed required by state governments.
On counterpart funding, Governor Radda said governments seeking investment must first demonstrate that they can honour their own financial obligations.
“In Katsina, counterpart funding is a ring-fenced, first-charge line, because a government that cannot keep its smallest financial promise cannot ask anyone to keep a larger one,” he said.
He equally called for independent and data-driven monitoring of projects, with adequate provision for operations and maintenance from the beginning, stressing that development projects must remain functional long after initial financing ends.
Turning directly to investors at the Forum, Governor Radda said opportunities exist around government-backed projects in areas including agricultural aggregation, storage, processing, logistics, mechanisation, off-take and working capital.
He urged investors to engage governments from the design stage so that their concerns can be addressed before projects are implemented, rather than attempting to resolve risks after investments have already been structured.
“Come in early. Engage us at design stage, and the de-risking you need is built into the project rather than retrofitted onto it. That protects your return and secures our impact,” Governor Radda said.
The Governor assured investors that Katsina State would continue to provide an environment where responsible investment can thrive through stable policies, respect for contracts, transparent procurement and protection of people and assets.
“Government will not be the investor of last resort. But we will guarantee the conditions in which capital thrives: policy stability, sanctity of contract, transparent procurement, security of people and assets, and leadership that treats office as a stewardship,” he declared.
Governor Radda challenged participants to ensure that discussions at the New York gathering translate into actual investments and development outcomes.
