Nigeria And China To Sign Loan Deal

The Nigerian government has announced that they are about to sign a loan deal with China, that will see the Eastern country help Nigeria on various projects around the country.

Femi Adesina, spokesperson for president Muhammadu Buhari, made the announcement to the media on Wednesday, saying that the president will sign the deal during his visit to China next week.

The loan will go towards financing infrastructure projects.

Adesina said that he could not yet say how much exactly the loan will be:

“…[sic] I can’t tell you how much until the day the loan will be signed…Both countries will also be signing some bilateral agreements to strengthen their relationship, that is all I can say now,” he said.

According to various reports, Nigeria has been in talks with China about a possible financial loan for months now. This comes after the country has hit somewhat of a financial slump with the decline in oil prices.

The source also said that the loan will most likely fund the construction of Chinese firms for infrastructure projects in the country.

Lu Kang, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry also confirmed Buhari’s visit to China, saying that the president was expected to visit China from April 11 – 15 to sign corporate agreements between the two countries.

The Nigerian government has said previously that they intend to raise about $5 billion to cover part of its 2016 budget deficit.