By Dipo Olowookere
A loan worth $475 million has been secured by Nigeria from France for the development of projects in Kano, Lagos and Ogun States.
The loan deal was signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the Chief Executive Officer of the Agence Francaise Development (AFD), Mr Rey Rioux.
The signing ceremony, held in Abuja on Tuesday, was witnessed by President Muhammadu Buhari and the French President, Mr Emmanuel Macron.
A statement issued by AFD disclosed that the agreement consists of $200 million loan facility grant to Lagos for the execution of transport projects by AFD, another $200 million loan for land degradation project in Ogun State and $75 million for the execution of water projects in Kano State.
On Lagos, the release stated that “On July 3, 2018, Mr Macron, the French President, and President Buhari of Nigeria, witnessed the signing of a letter of intent for the financing of the urban mobility improvement programme initiated by the Lagos State Government.
“This letter or intent of the equivalent in Eur of 200 million USD is related to a potential loan by AFD to the federal government of Nigeria. It was signed by the Agence Francaise de Development CEO, Mr Remy Rioux, and the Minister of Finance of Nigeria, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, in presence of Mr Denys Gauer, the Ambassador of France in Nigeria.”
The release also listed the project for execution in Lagos to include: development of eight priority bus corridors connected to the mass transit network (urban train and high-level service bus) with a total length of 41 kilometres); creation of two multimodal interchange hubs and functional integration of four public transport modes (urban train, high-level bus service, water transport lines and bus lines) and planning and management capabilities of the transportation system.
It added that the project which follows the successful urban development of the second Lagos bus rapid transit (BRT) project, that is already funded by AFD, aims at: contributing to Lagos sustainable urban development through the deployment of a public transport network combining quality service, efficiency, accessibility, reliability, safety, reduction of polluting emissions and socio-economic and financial sustainability.
Other aims of the project as listed by AFD are: giving 1,500,000 inhabitants access to quality transportation system; limiting road congestion; reducing an emission of 14,900 tonnes of CO, equivalent annually and thus improving the quality of the air; and creating stable jobs and initiating the professionalisation of the informal operators of transport (the artisanal transport).
It added: “Finally, this project has a strong potential for capitalisation of experience and replication to other cities in Nigeria and the sub-region.”
In the same vein, the release on Kano project said: “The Agence Francaise de Development supports Kano City to improve water coverage in Northern Nigeria by signing credit facility agreement of the equivalent of EUR 75 million in USD.
“During the official visit of the President Macron to Nigeria and his audience with President Buhari, the Agence Francaise Development CEO, Mr. Rey Rioux and the Minister of Finance of Nigeria, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, signed a credit of Facility Agreement the equivalent in EUR 75 million USD in order to improve water supply in Kano City.
“This concessional loan was awarded by AFD to the federal government of Nigeria to allow Kano State to develop an effective and sustainable water supply service.
The key objectives of the project are: (I) improve access to drinking water and quality of water service in greater Kano; (ii) to improve financial viability of Kano State Water Board by increasing its revenues and (iii) to enhance the governance framework of the water sector.
“The project mainly comprises of the following activities: rehabilitation and densification of the network; rehabilitation of the main water production facilities; supporting consumer awareness campaigns in particular sanitisation promo and hygiene sensitisation; technical assistance to Kano State Water Board and to the State Ministry in charge of Water Resources.
“First, activities will start in the coming months and are scheduled for a period of six years – it will contribute to improve the competitiveness of and increase the drinking water availability in greater Kano for approximately 1.5 people.”
However, the agreement on Ogun State project was signed on behalf of France by Kolbe and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji, on behalf of Nigeria.
“The Ogun agreement is a letter of intent to participate in the implementation of Nigeria’s blueprint and land degradation project in Ogun State.
