Keywords
Abstract
Promoting innovation for social project financing in Nigeria involves government policy support, encouragement of partnerships and capacity building through training for both innovators and investors. This paper interrogates, primarily, the existing mechanisms for financing social projects, assessment of their adequacy, and suggestions for reforms that will promote sustainable, inclusive, and innovative funding approaches. Key legislative enactments such as Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Act, 2005, and other sector-specific regulations provides the impetus for the analyses of the legal framework relevant to this discourse. It is also within the ambit and contemplation of this paper to evaluate the role of institutional actors such as Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, and development international and regional financial institutions such as World Bank and African Development Bank. Institutional capacity gaps, political interference, and low public awareness have been mirrored as constraints to the effectiveness of existing structures. This paper recommends strengthening legal provisions to explicitly promote innovative financing; building institutional capacity for policy design, monitoring, and evaluation; fostering publicprivate partnerships; as well as leveraging fintech solutions.