Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo has commenced discussions, with the Kuwaiti Fund towards accessing financing for infrastructural development.
The Vice President who received the Director General of the Kuwaiti Fund, Abdulwahab Al-Bader, in his Jumeira Messilah Beach Hotel and Spa room, stated that though Nigeria is a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), its size and population necessitates that it would need quite a lot of assistance to meet her infrastructural requirements.
Vice President Sambo stated that Nigeria has a well articulated vision for development known as the Transformation Agenda, which aims to address areas militating against the growth of the country, disclosing that infrastructural needs have become very relevant in the areas of power supply, transportation, which includes, roads, railways, bridges, dredging of rivers and construction of new deep sea ports through Public Private Partnerships (PPP), etc.
Sambo further stated that there are quite a number of out of school children, numbering over nine million, however, emphasizing that though the government is addressing the issue by constructing well designed boarding schools, government deserves assistance in that direction.
The Vice President also noted the efforts of the Federal Government in privatizing the power sector and the development of the institutional framework that will ensure that the private sector thrives, stressing that institutions such as the Bulk Trader, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, etc were set up to promote international best practices.
He observed that the efforts of government in the development of the power sector were largely on thermal power plants than hydro and called for a mix including development of irrigation schemes. Giving statistics the Vice President stated that studies have been completed on twelve dams, adding that such studies are also ongoing in seventeen dams, disclosing that when all these are completed they will be executed under a PPP arrangement.
In his response, the Director General of the Kuwaiti Fund, Mr. Abdulwahab Al-Bader, expressed delight that they had long awaited the start of this relationship with Nigeria. He said the Kuwaiti Fund was ready to work with Nigeria, but that the country must identify its priority projects to start with, noting that the opportunities have been created and the willingness is there.
He therefore advised Nigeria to draw the right track and present reasonable projects, emphasising that they are willing to finance such projects. He further advised that the Minister of Finance write to the Fund and they would act accordingly.
Present at the occasion were Nigerian’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, the Kuwaiti Fund, Regional Manager for West Africa, Thamer Al-Foilackawi and his East African counterpart, Abdulrahaman Al-Hashem, among other top government functionaries.
