The Ministry of Power and the U.S. Export-Import Bank have signed a $1.5 billion loan agreement aimed at boosting power generation in Nigeria.
At the signing ceremony of the
agreement on Wednesday in Abuja, Mr Fred Hochberg, the President of the bank, said the loan was to secure goods and services from the U.S.
He said the bank would deploy this loan immediately to assist President Goodluck Jonathan’s goals on economic growth through improved power supply by 2020.
“The sale of U.S. goods and services for expansion of the Nigerian electricity infrastructure will create or maintain many jobs in both Nigeria and U.S.
“Increased reliable power in Nigeria is widely accepted as central to the growth of its economy as it intends to increase power output.’’
Hochberg said that Nigeria was one of the nine countries, including South Africa, Turkey and India which the bank had identified that could offer U.S. companies opportunities for sales of services.
In his remark, the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, said the agreement was informed by the enabling environment created by the Federal Government in the power sector and other areas of the nation’s economy.
According to him, the loan attracts one-digit percentage interest rate and it is long-term.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank is an independent agency established to create and maintain the country’s jobs by filling gaps in private exports financing at no cost to American taxpayers.
Nnaji signed the agreement on behalf of the Federal Government while Hochberg signed for U.S.