China offers $6bn infrastructure loan to Nigeria

China has offered Nigeria a loan worth $6bn to fund infrastructure projects in Africa’s biggest economy. 

“It is a credit that is on the table as soon as we identify the projects,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, told reporters who travelled with President Muhammadu Buhari to China.

“It won’t need an agreement to be signed; it is just to identify the projects and we will access it,” he said.

Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said in a statement that the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, offered $15m agricultural assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of 50 demonstration farms across the country.

The offer was in response to Buhari’s vow to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production.

The offer, according to Shehu, was made during talks between Buhari’s delegation and high-ranking Chinese government officials led by Jinping.