French govt to invest £130 million in Nigeria

Buhari and Hollande

French Government has concluded arrangements to invest a total of €130million in the development of infrastructure in Nigeria.

French President, Mr. François Hollande disclosed this when at joint a press conference with President Mohammadu Buhari on Monday in Paris, adding that the fund would go into rebuilding of roads, provision of electricity and water supply.

Hollande commended the steps so far taken by Buhari in revamping the economy of Nigeria, adding “Despite the dwindling oil prices, the Nigerian economy remains strong so, France wants to be doing business in the country.”

The two leaders also deliberated on a Memorandum of Understanding to build a €30M project solar power plant in one of the local governments of Osun State. The capacity of the solar power plant is gathered to generate 10 to 14 megawatts. The leaders also discussed the issues of establishing a joint committee to increase trade and investment.

It will recalled also that Nigeria and France last year signed bilateral agreements which enables the French government to provide 1.170 Million dollars soft loan through the french development agency AFD for the construction of high voltage power lines and substations that will connect Abuja with electrical distribution network.

On security, Hollande said the French Government would give its support in the fight against Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria.

The French government will be supporting the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) with intelligence gathering and high tech military equipment.

It will be recalled that president Buhari left Abuja for Paris on a three-day official visit to France.

Coemmnting, President Buhari expressed gratitude to the French president for choosing to assist Nigeria over insurgency.

While pledging to cooperate, president Buhari told his host that Nigeria would be depending on France and other G7 countries to help her tackle the menace of piracy and oil theft in the Gulf of Guinea. “We have to depend on France and the other G7 countries for support to fight piracy.

“Our next shopping list is going to G7 in terms of intelligence and training. Another problem is the problem in the Gulf of Guinea, from Senegal to Angola, that area is endowed with resources like petroleum and other minerals but surrounded by piracy and theft. “We are going to depend on France and G7 countries to flush these criminals out of the region.”