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Nigeria reaps $5b from partnership with China
News & Trends •
furthermore less than 3 months ago nigeria signed an additional 1billion loan from china for additional rolling stock for the newly constructed rail lines as well as road rehabilitation and water supply projects1 nigerias partnership with china through the forum on china-africa cooperation focac resulted in the execution of vital infrastructure across the country valued at over 5 billion in the last three years1 highlighting specific projects under focac the president said that through the chinese support nigeria has impressively addressed significant challenges in the areas of infrastructure human capacity development power transport agriculture and humanitarian assistance1 for nigeria our partnership with china through the focac platform has resulted in the construction of the first urban rail system in west africa. this 500 million project in abuja was commissioned in july this year1 the president also cited the construction and operation of the first rail system in africa that uses modern chinese standards and technology1 this 180km rail line that connects abuja and kaduna was commissioned two years ago at a cost of 500 million. today the rail line is functioning efficiently with no issues indeed a sign that chinese technology is world class he noted1 nigeria is leveraging chinese funding to execute 3.4 billion worth of projects at various stages of completion1 these include the upgrading of airport terminals the lagos kano rail line the zungeru hydroelectric power project and fibre cables for our internet infrastructure1 president muhammadu buhari said on tuesday in beijing at the focac round table meeting attended by african leaders and chinese president xi jinping1 the nigerian leader said that the aforementioned projects had demonstrated the high level of consistency and commitment china has shown in boosting its relations with african countries under the umbrella of focac1 i am optimistic that this summit will offer new opportunities that would build on these past achievements mr. garba shehu senior special assistant to the president media1 he added nigeria will continue to support the focac initiative and also seek to key into the belt and road initiative as an additional chinese mechanism to build further cooperation in our quest for infrastructural and economic development1 president buhari dispelled insinuations about the so-called death trap by chinese government on developing countries insisting that nigeria would be able to re-pay the loans1 these vital infrastructure projects synchronize perfectly with our economic recovery and growth plan. some of the debts incurred are self-liquidating. our country is able to re-pay loans as and when due in keeping with our policy of fiscal prudence and sound housekeeping he said1 while applauding china for its overall commitment to the ideals of focac the president acknowledged that since the launch of the forum in 2000 china and africa had striven to implement the declarations and follow-up action plans for the benefit of both parties1 president buhari also commended president jinping his government and people for successfully hosting the beijing summit aimed at further strengthening china-africa partnership1