China visit yields $6bn investment

From JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE, Abuja

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Bu­hari has expressed satisfaction that his working visit to China, has yielded additional investments in Nigeria exceeding $6 billion.

He has therefore expressed the believe that the several agree­ments concluded with the Chinese government will have a huge and positive impact on key sectors of the Nigerian economy including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation.

The agreements cut across pow­er, solid ministerial, technology, roads, agriculture among others.

According to the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public­ity , Garba Shehu , in a statement, the North South Power Company Limited and Sinohydro Corpora­tion Limited signed an agreement valued at $478,657,941.28 for the construction of 300 Mega Watts solar power in Shiriro, Niger State.

In the solid minerals sector, Granite and Marble Nigeria Lim­ited and Shanghai Shibang signed an agreement valued at $55 mil­lion for the construction and equipping of granite mining plant in Nigeria.

A total of $1 billion is to be invested in the development of a greenfield expressway for Abuja- Ibadan-Lagos under an agreement reached by the Infrastructure Bank and Sinohydro Corporation Lim­ited.

For the housing sector, both companies also sealed a $250 million deal to develop an ultra modern 27-storey high rise com­plex and a $2.5 billion agreement for the development of the Lagos Metro Rail Transit Red Line proj­ect.

Other agreements announced and signed during the visit include a $1 billion for the establishment of a Hi-tech industrial park in Ogun-Guang­dong Free Trade Zone in Igbesa, Ogun State.

Furthermore, the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone and CNG (Nigeria) Investment Limited also signed an agreement valued at $200million for the construction of two 500MT/day float gas facilities.

An agreement valued at $363 mil­lion for the establishment of a com­prehensive farm and downstream in­dustrial park in Kogi State was also announced at the Nigeria-China busi­ness forum.

Other agreements still on nego­tiation table include a $500 million project for the provision of television broadcast equipment and a $25 mil­lion facility for production of pre-paid smart meters between Mojec Interna­tional Limited and Microstar Com­pany Limited.

Shehu said about 100 Nigerian businesses and 300 Chinese firms par­ticipated in the Nigeria-China busi­ness forum which took place a day after President Buhari began his visit to China.