The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that Nigeria will soon close the deal on a $3 billion to $4 billion loan from China that will be channelled towards the provision of infrastructure in the oil and gas sector. Kachikwu made the disclosure at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held in the State House, adding that the loan was a fallout of the July roadshow held by the petroleum ministry and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in China.
Briefing State House reporters alongside the Ministers of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Interior, Abdurahman Danbazzau; and Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Kachikwu also revealed that over 40 Chinese investors would be visiting Nigeria by the end of the month, explaining that the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed during the road show generally have a gestation period of about one year, as both countries set up their teams on a bilateral basis to look at specific areas of investment interests.
Last July, Kachikwu led a roadshow to China to attract investments to close the infrastructure gap in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. The management of NNPC at the end of the roadshow announced the signing of MoUs with Chinese companies worth over $50 billion for infrastructure development.