Market News

By Anozie Egole

The President of the Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria, Kunle Adebajo, has stated that Nigeria needs roughly $100bn of infrastructure investment every year.

Adebajo stated this on Tuesday in Lagos during his address at the 48th Annual Conference and the 2026 AGM/Dinner of ACEN.

The event was themed, ‘Infrastructure Development in the Era of AI: Powering the Nigerian Economy’.

He said that Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit was estimated at $2.3tn, and government spending covered less than 30 per cent of the annual need.

Adebajo emphasised that the gap was huge, stressing that a gap of that size would not be closed just by money; rather, it must be closed by productivity, more infrastructure, better design, timely delivery and maintenance throughout its full life.

“Nigeria needs roughly $100bn of infrastructure investment every year. Our infrastructure deficit is estimated at $2.3tn, and government spending costs cover less than 30 per cent of the annual need. So the gap is huge, and the gap of that size will not be closed just by money.

It must be closed by productivity, more infrastructure, better design, delivered on time, and maintained for its full life,” Adebajo said.

Speaking on the theme of the event, he said that AI had helped reduce the time it takes to do some work.

According to him, digital tools show how a bridge or a dam is behaving, and predictive maintenance warns before failure, not after.

He added that AI would allow a firm of maybe 30 people to do the analytical drafting and documentation and have the capacity that previously required a firm of 300.

“Of course, caution, used badly, or not even at all, and it widens the gap between us and the larger competitors. So the choice is ours, and it will not wait,” he said.

Earlier, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ali Rabiu, had commended ACEN for its sustained commitment to advancing the practice of consulting engineering and for providing this important platform for professional engagement, intellectual exchange and the advancement of the nation’s engineering and infrastructure development agenda.

He said that the consulting engineering profession was indispensable to national development, “particularly at a time when our country must make deliberate choices about infrastructure investment, technological advancement, and economic transformation.”

“And that is why the theme of this year’s conference is both timely and consequential,” Rabiu stressed.

He said it also examined how engineers could harness the transformative power of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, to accelerate infrastructure delivery, strengthen economic productivity and reposition Nigeria for sustainable development.

Rabiu reiterated that the theme spoke directly to the future of the profession and the future of the nation, adding that no nation could achieve sustainable economic prosperity without the infrastructure required to support its productive capacity.

He reiterated that infrastructure was not just a collection of physical assets; rather, it was a foundation upon which economic growth, industrialisation, national competitiveness and social development were built.

“Roads, railways, seaports, airports, electricity networks, water systems, and digital infrastructure are essential enablers of commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, education, healthcare, and technological innovation,” Rabiu added.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, explained that in a city like Lagos, where millions of people depended daily on roads, bridges, rail systems, waterways and several other public infrastructure, engineering decisions had consequences far beyond construction sites and designers’ tables, extending well beyond the minds that conceptualised them.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented at the event by the Managing Director of Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Engr. Tokunbo Ajanaku, said they determined how safely people travelled and how efficiently businesses operated.

“This is why the conversation about artificial intelligence and the future of infrastructure is particularly important to us as a people and very importantly to us,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Sanwo-Olu commended ACEN for choosing a theme that challenged the state to examine how emerging technologies could help address some of its most pressing developmental needs.

The President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, said that the theme was a challenge to engineers.

“Engineering, therefore, is not simply a profession, it is a public trust. Artificial intelligence offers us remarkable tools to honour that trust, from smarter designs and digital tools to predictive maintenance, intelligent power networks, and more efficient project delivery,” Abubakar said.

Abubakar who was represented at the event by his Vice President, Engr Olaoluwa Ogunduyile, said AI could help build infrastructure that was safer, more resilient and more productive.

He nevertheless warned that the intelligence in machines must never diminish responsibility among professionals.