Mixed signals from Nigeria’s new economic diplomacy
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AS President Muhammadu Buhari concludes yet another of his economic diplomacy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and headed for the United Kingdom for a private visit, many Nigerians are full of expectations of the cost and gains that the nation can derive from it.
The reports from Saudi Arabia on the just concluded Future Investment Initiative (FII) said that Buhari added to the nation’s shopping list, funds from the United States International Development Finance Corporation, USIDFC, for infrastructure development.
Speaking on the margins of the just concluded Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum in Saudi Arabia, Buhari said that the Federal Government was ready to explore more ways of funding the upgrade of critical infrastructure in the country by mobilising additional capital from development finance institutions for the upgrade.
According to the statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari made the commitment during his meeting with the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, on Thursday, October 31, in Riyadh, South Arabia.
According to Shehu, Buhari and Mnuchin also discussed areas of strengthening Nigeria’s ongoing collaboration with the United States on stopping terrorist financing.
He noted that Buhari vowed that Nigeria would leverage on the U.S. facility to address current challenges confronting the country’s power sector as well as the general upgrade of infrastructure.
Shehu explained that the USIDFC provides $60 billion for investments in developing nations and that the Nigerian leader also requested the continued support of the U.S. to Nigeria, especially in accessing the $60 billion infrastructure fund under the USIDFC.
But this particular move may no doubt help the Nigerian economy as it will worsen the already huge debt profile of the country and the attendant trillions of naira set aside in the 2020 budget for debt servicing.
Aside from this new loan overture to the US financial institution, the visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Buhari, would improve the ties between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.A
ccording to Ambassador Adnan Bostaji, the Nigerian leader and his Saudi counterpart stressed on the importance of enhancing the ties in all fields during their meeting.
The report by NTA quoted the ambassador as saying that the two leaders also advocated strengthening cooperation between both countries on combatting terrorism, and coordinating their work on international and regional matters of common interest to both countries.
“His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, alongside his accompanying delegation, also met with His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, and ways of strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation on energy and investment were discussed, in addition to a number of regional and international issues and the efforts being made in that regard.
“During the meeting, agreement was reached on establishing a Saudi-Nigerian Council with the aim of enhancing mutual investment and supporting developmental projects in Nigeria, in all sectors: oil sector and other vital non-oil sectors. This will contribute to the realization of development and progress in Nigeria,” the report quoted Bostaji as saying.
For the ambassador, President Buhari’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia achieved great success by all standards and in all fields: “political, economic, and in terms of security. This will have the greatest mark in improving the relations between both countries and in elevating the relations to wider horizons in the near future, which in turn will enhance the common interests of both countries to the benefits of our two friendly countries and people”.
The highlights of the Russia – Africa Summit, which has been seen as the most successful outing of Buhari witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the NNPC and the Russian oil giant, Lukeoil