FOREIGN TRIP: China Partners, Offers $6bn Infrastructure Loan Facility, Others To Nigeria

President Buhari with Xi Jinping

PEOPLES Republic of China has signed a partnership deal offering to grant Nigeria a loan worth $6bn to fund infrastructure projects in Africa’s biggest economy as outcome of President Mohammadu Buhari meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping and his team on Tuesday.

In addition, the Chinese government offered a $15m agricultural assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of 50 demonstration farms across the country, according to the statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu after the meeting adding that the offer was in response to Buhari’s vow to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production.

Other mutual benefits include a bilateral agreement to strengthen military and civil service exchanges as part of a larger capacity building commitment which implies that China will raise its scholarship awards to Nigerian students from about 100 to 700 annually, while 1,000 other Nigerians would be given vocational and technical training annually.

Furthermore, China expressed an interest in setting up major projects in Nigeria such as refineries, power plants, mining companies, and textile manufacturing and food processing industries as soon as the enabling environment is provided by the Federal Government.

Following these remarkable developments, Buhari shortly after the meetings directed that technical committees be immediately constituted to finalise discussions on new joint Nigeria/China rail, power, manufacturing, agricultural and solid mineral projects adding that the committees’ assignments must be concluded before the end of next month.

Sources at the meeting also disclosed that President Jinping commended Buhari on his war against corruption in Nigeria stating that the fight takes preeminence in investment drive so as to assure the foreign investors of the security of their ventures in the country, and therefore pledged that Chinese government will continually remain supportive to the course.