By Levinus Nwabughiogu
ABUJA—President
Muhammadu Buhari will leave
Abuja for South Africa today
to participate in the Forum on
China/Africa Cooperation
(FOCAC) in Johannesburg
where he will ask China’s
President Xi Jinping to fund
rail and power projects
urgently needed to diversify
an economy hit hard by a
plunge in oil prices.
The meeting would be a
continuation of his interaction
with Jinping which began in
New York during the last
General Assembly of the
United Nations, UN.
The President would be
accompanied by the Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey
Onyema; Minister of
Transportation, Chubuike
Amaechi; and the Minister of
Industry, Trade and
Investment, Okechukwu
Enelamah to the forum which
would commence on December
4 and end on December 5.
A statement by the
presidential spokesman, Mr.
Femi Adesina, stated that
during the meeting in New
York, President Buhari had
indicated to Xi Jinping that
“he wanted China to re-
commence stalled rail
projects under new terms
that would see China
providing nearly all the
financing required.”
The statement added that
“of particular interest is the
coastal railway project
stretching for 1402
kilometres linking Lagos in
the West with Calabar in the
East; a project that is
expected to be financed with
12 billion U.S Dollars Chinese
loan and which will create
about 200,000 jobs.”
Another rail project that will
be up for renegotiation is the
$8.3bn Lagos-Kano standard
gauge modernization project,
of which only a segment,
Kaduna-Abuja has reached
completion stage.
Outside from railways,
President Buhari is also
expected to discuss ways of
kick-starting the 3,050 MW
Mambila Power Station,
considered to be a strategic
project initiated in 1982 but
has not taken off.
Adesina revealed that the
Chinese President
expressed the willingness of
his country to finance the
whole project through a
special loan agreement.
The president is expected
back to Nigeria on December
5.