Nigeria Offered $6bn Chinese Loan

China has offered Nigeria a $6 billion loan to fund infrastructure projects. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyema, who is among the entourage to China, “the Loan is on the table as soon as we identify the projects, we can access it,” he said.

The confirmation by Onyema coincides with an agreement reached between Nigeria and China yesterday on a currency swap deal, as it looks for ways to shore up the naira and fund a record budget deficit, possibly by issuing yuan-denominated bonds in China, as reported by Reuters.

Similarly, President Jinping offered $15m in agricultural assistance for the establishment of 50 Agricultural Demonstration Farms across Nigeria. China also offered to raise its scholarship awards to Nigerian students from 100 to 700 annually and 1,000 Nigerians are to be given vocational & technical training by China annually.

President Xi Jinping assured President Buhari that Nigeria will always have a special place in the affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades as sinking oil prices eat into its foreign reserves and the naira weakens against other currencies.