Nigeria has appealed for China’s support for the immediate take-off of the $5.8 billion Mambilla hydropower project in Taraba State.
“Nigeria, in particular, would appreciate the immediate take-off of the Mambilla hydropower project and the resuscitation of the Lake Chad,” Nigerian Ambassador to China, Baba Ahmad Jidda, said in Beijing at the Coordinators’ Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the 2018 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
The envoy thanked China for implementing several infrastructure projects across ECOWAS member states and asked for the country’s support in building more connectivity in the area of trade, people-to-people exchange, telecommunications, transport, and intelligence data sharing.
Earlier at the opening of the meeting, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, disclosed that the Asian country would carry out more than 880 projects across African countries in the next three years.
The 3,050 – megawatt hydroelectric plant has been planned for over three decades.
China’s Export-Import Bank will provide 85 percent of the funding and Nigeria’s government will supply the remaining 15 percent for the joint venture.
These projects are part of the eight major initiatives China promised to implement with African countries, covering fields such as industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, and green development.
