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As Nigeria battles with economic recession and the dire need to raise funds, particular foreign exchange, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is looking to provide over $4billion dollars between 2016 and 2017.
President of the bank and Nigeria’s former agriculture minister, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina who is on his first official visit to Nigeria in his capacity as president of the AfDB says the funds would be used to develop the power and agriculture sectors in the country.
Dr. Adesina was speaking after holding talks with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
The plan includes; $1 billion of budget support, $300 million to create jobs for 185,000 youths, $250 million towards northeast infrastructure development, and $1 million grant to deal with challenges of internally displaced persons (IDPs),
It also includes $300 million for infrastructure development around Abuja, and $200 million for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to deepen electricity facilities.
While holding talks with the Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Dr Adesina had said that “deepening the level of diversification in critical sectors” such as agriculture, solid minerals and manufacturing, was of particular importance.
“I expect that our portfolio in Nigeria will not decrease – it will actually grow. We expect to invest in Nigeria, by 2019, a total of $10 billion,” said Adesina,
The Finance Minister allayed fears that the country could be over-borrowing. “What we are trying to do is to ensure that this money we are borrowing, we use it on the key infrastructure that will drive the economy,” she said.
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