Posted on: 10:08 Wed, 13 Apr 2016



China has offered Nigeria a loan
worth $6bn to fund infrastructure
projects in Africa’s biggest
economy.

“It is a credit that is on the table as
soon as we identify the projects,”
the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Geoffrey Onyeama, told reporters
who traveled with President
Muhammadu Buhari to China.

“It won’t need an agreement to be
signed; it is just to identify the
projects and we will access it.”

Also, the President’s man on Media
and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said
the Chinese President, Xi Jinping,
offered $15m agricultural
assistance to Nigeria for the
establishment of 50 demonstration
farms.

The deal was in response to
Buhari’s vow to make Nigeria self-
sufficient in food production.

The offer, according to Shehu, was
made during talks between
Buhari’s delegation and high-
ranking Chinese government
officials led by Jinping.

During the talks, China and Nigeria
also agreed to strengthen military
and civil service exchanges as part
of a larger capacity building
engagement.

In line with this, China offered to
raise its scholarship awards to
Nigerian students from 100 to 700
annually, while 1,000 other
Nigerians would be given
vocational and technical training
by China annually.

Shehu quoted Jinping as applauding
the war against corruption being
waged by Buhari and assured him
that Nigeria would always have a
special place in the affairs of China.

Buhari, after the talks, directed that
technical committees be
immediately established to finalise
discussions on new joint Nigeria/
China rail, power, manufacturing,
agricultural and solid mineral
projects.