The Federal Government will release the sum of N750 billion to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) this week for the implementation of capital projects contained in the 2017 budget, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has said.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja when she met with a delegation of investors from France made up of 30 companies who are seeking partnership to invest in key sectors of the Nigerian economy, Adeosun stated that about N450bn had earlier been released for capital projects
She said the additional N750bn would make a total of N1.2 trillion that would have been invested in infrastructure projects in the country.
She said: “Last year we released N1.3tn of capital and so far this year we have released N450bn. This week we will release another N750bn and this will take the release to N1.2tn by the end of the year.”
Mr Philippe Labonne who led the delegation to the minister noted that investors were ready to partner with the Nigerian government in areas such as banking, infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture and youth empowerment.
He said French companies decided to increase their investments in Nigeria, underling the fact that the Nigerian economic environment is conducive following the recent stability in the country’s foreign exchange rate.
He stressed that the French companies would form strategic partnerships with their Nigerian counterparts adding that they were in Nigeria to assess the investment environment and take advantage of Nigeria’s investment opportunities.
Earlier, the delegates had met with the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Ms Yewande Sadiku, who told them that Nigeria was a major destination of capital inflows in the African continent.
She told them that Nigeria has the population that provides the market hence making it a hub for investors.
Sadiku said France appeared as number 10 on the chart on investment flows which represented about $1bn of the capital inflows into Nigeria.
