President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed the willingness of the Nigerian government to mobilize additional capital from development finance institutions for the upgrade of critical infrastructure in the country.
According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu on Thursday, Buhari met with U.S Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin in Riyadh on Wednesday and they had “positive discussions on investments in Nigeria under the new United States International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC), which provides $60 billion for investments in developing nations”.
Speaking at the meeting held on the margins of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum, the President said Nigeria will leverage on the U.S facility to address current challenges confronting her power sector as well as general upgrade of infrastructure.
President Buhari with U.S Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, Nigeria’s Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, in Riyadh during the Future Investment Initiative (FII).
Buhari 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 terrorist financing.
Mnuchin was accompanied by Brent Macintosh, Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and Marshall Billingslea, Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing in the United States Treasury Department.
The Treasury Secretary used the occasion to introduce Macintosh who was recently promoted Under Secretary for International Affairs by President Trump after the previous Under Secretary, David Malpass, was elected President of the World Bank.
Buhari congratulated Macintosh on his elevation and requested for his continued support to Nigeria especially in accessing the $60 billion infrastructure fund under the USIDFC.
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