Calling all African PF’ers - I am in Lagos until 3/11/09.

By Nick Crawley on October 29 2009

I rarely write about my trips, often due to confidentiality or lack of time, however I am currently en route to Lagos, Nigeria and I thought this would be an interesting insight into those of you interested in the way we operate at Navigator.

Why go from Sydney to Lagos?

Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, is a city of around 8-18m people (depending on who you believe), forecast to be ~40M within 8 years and by then the world’s third largest city. With this in mind it is not surprising that the project finance world is booming in this region of sub-saharan Africa. Infrastructure projects have come a long way, especially with the USD 1Bn Express way being Project Finance Magazine’s Deal of the Year in 2008. Power generation remains a constant challenge as in most developing markets. A trait of this markets is that the population is developed enough to require electricity for appliances and communications but reliable generation, transmission and distribution assets have not been invested in, properly maintained or potentially have been in the middle of an armed conflict.

So project finance is a challenging concept but it can thrive in developing and emerging markets even though reliable supply, labour forcess and off-take contracts are more difficult to secure not to mention often political / regulatory instability or less developed banking systems. With recent momentum in the country spurring significant investment, communications with international consultants such as Navigator, and other consultancies we are close to, have increased. I will be working in Nigeria for a week, with a range of people, including a Power development company, a development finance corporation and a toll road operator, during the stay I will be based on Lagos Island, which looks to be an interesting location.

Preparation - what could have gone wrong did!

Preparation for the trip has been strewn with hurdles, the 10 day business visa application process was rejected late yesterday (2 business days before departure), reasons included ‘not enough clear pages left in my passport, a small technicality on the application form not to mention requiring letters of invitation and certificates of incorporation required from all people I am meeting, thanks to my fantastic support team, arrangements were taken care of promptly. Like similar locations around the world nominated drivers are supplied by the bank I am primarily working for and ’secure’ accommodation has been booked, accommodation has worked out to be a similar cost to London. Like most trips I am taking the opportunity to meet with a number of influential Project financiers in the region which as Navigator expands its operations down from Europe through the Middle East into Africa are increasingly important. I find that travelling is a fantastic way of building on ones network, over the years I have established some great friendships and commercial contacts around the world, just by travelling and being open to meeting new people. So if you read this and you would like to catch up just let me know, I am here until the 3rd of November.

I will keep you updated as the trip progresses.

What else is happening?

We have never been busier, a good sign for the overall project market I hope. Before Christmas I am taking a team to Saudi Arabia and Tehran (Iran) to work on another mega-project, so its a busy time of year.