The Lagos Water Corporation has announced a major push to transform water supply across Lagos through a sweeping Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative aimed at tackling the state’s persistent water shortage and expanding access to safe drinking water for millions of residents.
At a high-level Directors’ Meeting held on Thursday at the Corporation’s headquarters in Ijora, the management of the agency reviewed progress on the concession process designed to rehabilitate, upgrade and operate key water facilities across the state.
The meeting, chaired by Managing Director, Engr. Mukhtaar Temitope Tijani, alongside transaction advisers from Integrated Business Solutions (IBS), focused on the competitive bidding process which has already attracted strong investor interest.
According to the Corporation, a total of 23 bids were received across four project lots after technical assessments and financial evaluations were conducted as part of the PPP process.
A presentation delivered by Engr. Titilola Oridami-Bright highlighted the Corporation’s strategy to standardize concession agreements to a 20-year tenure with a unified five percent royalty structure to ensure transparency, consistency and accountability.
Officials disclosed that the current water infrastructure in Lagos can only serve about 35 percent of households even when operating at full capacity, making urgent intervention necessary in Africa’s most populous city.
Under the new PPP framework, the state is targeting between 60 and 80 percent water supply availability in the initial phase, while also reducing Non-Revenue Water losses to below 25 percent within the next seven to eight years.
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The initiative will also introduce performance-based benchmarks, cost-reflective tariffs, investor incentives and stronger regulatory oversight to guarantee service delivery and protect public interest.
The Corporation reaffirmed that the partnership model is expected to attract major private sector investment into water infrastructure rehabilitation, operational efficiency and network expansion, especially in underserved communities across Lagos.
Negotiations with preferred bidders are expected to begin shortly as the state government intensifies efforts to modernize the water sector and improve access to potable water for over 20 million Lagos residents.
In a related development, the Lagos State Government earlier unveiled plans to concession seven mini and micro waterworks located in Lekki, Akilo, Victoria Island Annex, Magodo, Abesan, Alexander and Apapa to private investors under the pilot PPP arrangement.
The project is expected to significantly improve sustainable water distribution and strengthen long-term access to clean water across the state.
