Highlights Of President Buhari’s 6-Day Official Visit To China

While in the People’s Republic of China, President Muhammadu Buhari participated in the 7th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) between September 3 – 4 2018 in Beijing, China. The President led Nigeria’s delegation in bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping, as well as in business engagements with the Chinese private sector.

President Buhari was accompanied to China by Ministers of Finance Kemi Adeosun; Transportation Rotimi Amaechi; Power, Works & Housing Babatunde Fashola; Budget & National Planning Udom Udo Udoma; Petroleum Ibe Kachukwu; Industry, Trade & Investment Okechukwu Enelamah; and Minister of State, Aviation Hadi Sirika.

During the Bilateral Meeting led by Presidents Buhari and Xi, two important Agreements were signed:
1. MOU for the ‘One Belt One Road’ Initiative (OBOR).
2. $328m financing agreement for the National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Backbone.

At that meeting, Nigeria received the blessings of the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, for the construction of the Mambilla Project, Nigeria’s largest hydroelectric power plant. Work on the power project will commence on the site in early 2019.

During the President’s visit to China, the Nigerian delegation signed a total of thirteen agreements, valued at more than US$10bn, with more to be signed subsequently by the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) and the Attorney-General & Minister of Justice of the Federation.

The Agreements were signed between the Nigerian Government and Chinese businesses, and between Nigerian businesses and their Chinese counterparts.