FG Reiterates Commitment To Tackling Infrastructural Deficit With China Loan
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The Federal Government has reiterated its plans to address the infrastructural deficit in the country with the Chinese loan.
Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, during an appearance on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, said the Federal Government is currently implementing various projects across the country.
“The projects have been there. They have been conceptualized in the past. But honestly, as far as I can tell, I haven’t seen the degree of commitment to implementation,” he said.
“If you look at the railways, the Kaduna-Abuja has been finished, the Lagos-Ibadan is going on.
“And that is why this relationship with China on those infrastructural projects that are demonstrably useful must be done. If you look at Mambilla (power project), it has been there for well over 10 years almost abandoned.
“But now, there has been a re-commitment by both China and Nigeria to develop it that will generate a lot of power that will add to our national grid and that will make a huge difference because we still have a power deficit,” he added.
Read Also: FG Will Sign More Agreements With China For Infrastructure Development – Presidency
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Enelamah’s comments come two weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari traveled to participate in the 7th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing.
During the summit, the Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to provide $60 billion to finance Africa’s development over the next three years.
The financing will include $15 billion in “free assistance and interest-free loans”, he said, in remarks meant to ease growing concerns that China’s assistance to developing nations is putting them in debt.
Speaking about the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government and German auto giant, Volkswagen, the minister explained that the car manufacturer believes Nigeria is a hub for the production of over two million vehicles.
According to him, the government needs to create an enabling environment for the deal to be effective by initiating certain policies.
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