Nigeria, U.S. discuss infrastructure financing

By Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed the willingness of the Nigerian government to mobilise additional capital from development finance institutions for the upgrade of critical infrastructure in the country.

The President met with U.S Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, on Wednesday, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and they had positive discussions on investments in Nigeria under the new United States International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC).

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The corporation provides $60 billion for investments in developing nations.

At the meeting on the side-lines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum, President Buhari said Nigeria would leverage on the U.S facility to address current challenges confronting the nation’s Power sector as well as general upgrade of infrastructure.

The President, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, also thanked the U.S government for supporting Nigeria’s anti-terrorism efforts.  The President and Mnuchin also discussed areas of strengthening Nigeria’s ongoing collaboration with the United States on stopping terrorism financing.