President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria met top officials of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to negotiate a “multi-billion dollar infrastructure finance facility” to help build ports and power plants, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Tinubu held talks with IsDB vice president Mansur Muhtar late on Monday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement. He didn’t provide further details of the finance package sought by the Nigerian government.
“We have serious deficits in port infrastructure, power infrastructure, and agro-allied facilities,” Tinubu said in the statement.
“These deficits present an unrivalled opportunity for savvy investors in a market that is by far the largest on the continent,” he said.
On Friday, Nigeria agreed to a series of investments and cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia, including a pledge by the Saudi government to make a “substantial deposit” of foreign exchange to help boost Nigeria’s forex liquidity.
Under Tinubu, Nigeria has allegedly embarked on its boldest reforms in decades, ending a costly petrol subsidy and restrictions on foreign currency trading to boost economic growth.
Tinubu, sworn into office in May, has pledged to revive the economy fraught with sluggish growth, double-digit inflation, foreign currency shortages, widespread insecurity, and crude oil theft.
Muhtar said the IsDB is ready to work with the government to support big investments in Nigeria, which is expected to get a “significant share” of a $50 billion Africa investment fund announced by the bank in cooperation with the Arab Coordination Group.
The Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-based IsDB is a multilateral development bank financing infrastructure and other development projects in Muslim-majority countries.
