China set to lend US$1.1b to Nigeria
Source: Agencies | 2012-9-13 | NEWSPAPER EDITION
Sep 13, 2012
CHINA is offering Nigeria US$1.1 billion in loans to help the West African nation build airport terminals, a light rail line for its capital and communication system improvements, the Nigerian finance ministry said yesterday.
The loans reflect the deepening economic ties between Nigeria and China, which already is involved in building major road and railway projects in the nation. However, similar deals with China have fallen apart amid corruption allegations, problems that persist today and could potentially put this new deal at risk as well.
The light rail project for Abuja, the nation's capital, would bring commuters in from suburbs surrounding the city's distant international airport and from neighboring Nasarawa state, the ministry said. That project would cost about US$500 million, the ministry said.
Another project, valued at US$100 million, part of a loan deal already signed involving the light rail, would go toward improving Nigeria's Internet capability, the ministry said.
The 20-year, 2.5 percent interest loan for the two projects has a grace period of seven years before payment is required, the ministry said.
Separately, another US$500 million loan will go toward building airport terminals in Abuja, Enugu, Kano and Port Harcourt, the statement read. Airports in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with over 160 million people, largely sit in disrepair as most were built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Recently, Chinese workers helped reconstruct parts of Nigeria's moribund railroad system and have built roads and other projects in the country.
