UDBN’s central focus is on improving investments in Nigeria’s infrastructure. We will focus on investing in commercially viable infrastructure projects such as highways, bridges, power plants as well as other social sector infrastructure. The sub-national space constitutes a major area of our work, given the enormous infrastructure challenges faced by many states and local governments.
Some of our major areas of focus are outlined below:

Power
Only about a third of the Nigerian population has access to electricity. Nigeria has inadequate power generation capacity. Transmission and distribution networks are poorly maintained, while poor billing practices have reduced revenue collection efficiency.

Roads
The Nigerian road network has a total length of about 195,000km, comprised of about 32,100 km (or 16.5 percent) of federal trunk roads, 30,900 km (or 15.8 percent) of state roads, and 132,000 km (or 67.7 percent)  local government roads. Federal roads provide linkages between state capitals and other major towns; state roads link towns to other settlements and local government roads link relatively smaller communities.

Ports
Although Nigeria is endowed with a good coastal location, its port services remain inefficient and poorly developed. Nigeria’s inefficient port service is characterized by high waiting times for ships to berth, low handling speeds, and high container ‘dwell’ times compared with international best practices.

Railways
The majority of Nigeria’s internal freight occurs by road, with the railway sector playing only a limited role. Nigeria’s rail network has deteriorated in recent decades with wagons, coaches and other related infrastructure being in a state of disrepair.

Water and Sanitation
There is an overall gap in the supply of portable water to Nigerians. Despite annual investments by federal, states and local governments in water-related infrastructure in Nigeria the quality of services remain poor when compared with other emerging market countries.

Social Sector Infrastructure
Social sector infrastructure notably in areas such as health and education are important in supporting Nigeria’s attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Urban Mass Transportation
Organized mass transportation system is a challenge to all Nigerian cities.  Although some cities such as Lagos and Abuja have introduced bus mass transit systems, we believe that additional investments are needed in this sector given Nigeria’s large and growing population.

Housing, Real Estate and Land Development
City authorities in Nigeria are being challenged by high urban population growth as well as rapid physical expansion of settlements. Urban population in the country is currently growing at about 5.5% per annum, one of the highest growth rates in the world. Unfortunately, this rapid growth is accommodated in the cities without formal planning and provision of basic urban infrastructure and services.

Municipal Enterprises and Ventures
Commercial and business enterprises in any city promote growth and provide income and employment to local residents. Yet some key commercial infrastructure tends to be lacking in many Nigerian cities. UDBN can support the development of municipal enterprises and ventures such as: public markets, abattoirs, motor parks, shopping malls, bus terminals, car parks, industrial estates and so on. In many cases, such investments could be undertaken by the private sector on a viable and profitable basis.

Solid Waste Management
Nigerian towns and cities are all grappling with the problems of solid waste management. On average, only about 50% of waste generated in cities are appropriately and safely disposed. In some instances, Nigerian cities also lack appropriate sanitary landfills and the landfills equipment.