Exploring the key risk factors impeding the performance of highway construction projects: An evidence from Nigeria

Akoh, Sani; Sun, Ming; Ogunlana, Stephen; Mahmud, Abba

Abstract

Purpose (limit 100 words) Construction projects, and particularly highway infrastructures, are known to be major contributors to the socio-economic growth of developing countries. However, these types of projects are infamous for being highly risky, due to the interplay of numerous risk factors. This study explored the key risk factors impacting on the performance of highway infrastructure projects in Nigeria: from a contextual viewpoint of key industry stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach (limit 100 words) Qualitative data was collected using semi structured interviews. Specifically, 17 in-depth expert interviews were conducted with experienced stakeholders in the highway sector of the Nigerian construction industry. The collected data was transcribed and analysed using an established coding framework (grounded on case study approach, principles of thematic analysis and saliency analysis). Findings (limit 100 words) Overall, 17 key risks were identified from the data analysis process and 6 risks were recognised as the most significant, based on the combination of prevalence of occurrence and significance of the coded information. The 6 top risks were: change in government, corruption, cost of construction materials, inflation, project funding issues and construction project delay. However, the first two of these risks (change in government and corruption) are politically related, which is specific and unique to the setting of Nigeria and thus might be seen as discouraging indicators that could have an impact on attracting foreign investors/contractors to Nigeria. Originality/value (limit 100 words) The study addressed the gap related with identifying context specific risk factors impeding the performance of highway projects in Nigeria from the viewpoints of industry experts. It is expected that the findings will provide a better insight into the various risk factors and thus aid relevant policy makers to provide context specific mitigating strategies.

Citation

Akoh, S., Sun, M., Ogunlana, S., & Mahmud, A. (2024). Exploring the key risk factors impeding the performance of highway construction projects: An evidence from Nigeria. Journal of Facilities Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/jfm-05-2023-0052

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 15, 2024
• Online Publication Date: May 27, 2024
• Publication Date: May 27, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 19, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 19, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Facilities Management
• Print ISSN: 1472-5967
• Publisher: Emerald
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/jfm-05-2023-0052
• Keywords: risk factors, performance, risk identification, coding framework, Nigeria, highway construction projects