Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria, arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. Lewis Joly/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Nigeria has secured nearly $14 billion of pledges from Indian investors and seeks an economic cooperation pact with the South Asian nation, a presidential spokesperson said on Wednesday.
India's Jindal Steel and Power (JNSP.NS) has committed to pump $3 billion into Nigeria's steel sector and Indorama Corp plans to invest an additional $8 billion to expand its petrochemical facility in the West African country, spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement.
Skipperseil Ltd's founding Chairman Jitender Sachdeva and India's Bharti Enterprises each pledged $1.6 billion over four years to build power generation plants and $700 million in Nigeria, respectively, Ngelale said.
Separately, Nigeria approved a $1 billion partnership agreement with the Indian government to help the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria attain 40% self-sufficiency in local manufacturing and production of defence equipment in three years, Ngelale said.
President Bola Tinubu, who will attend the G20 summit in New Delhi representing a guest country later this week, held talks with Indian investors under the Nigeria-India presidential roundtable and conference to mobilize global capital to develop infrastructure.
Tinubu is attending at the invitation of India, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the bloc.
"We are ready to give you the best returns for investment possible, there's nowhere else like our country," Tinubu said in the statement.
The government of Africa's top oil producer wants to encourage investments rather than rely on borrowing to fund job creation and build badly needed infrastructure such as railways, roads and power plants.
Tinubu has embarked on Nigeria's boldest reforms in decades, including scrapping a popular but expensive petrol subsidy and lifting foreign exchange trading curbs. He has pledged to revive an economy struggling with record debt, anaemic growth, unemployment, and double-digit inflation.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is considering applying to become the continent's second member of the G20, after South Africa, and is consulting on the risks and benefits.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Felix Onuah in Abuja; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogboand Shivam Patel; Editing by Christina Fincher and Richard Chang
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Zentrophy on September 7th, 2023 at 19:45 UTC »
Nigeria is clearly one of the biggest countries to watch over the next century; it's in position to become the preeminent military and economic power throughout all of Africa.
And as a major proponent of NATO and Liberal Democracy, I'm very happy to see India, a morally justifiable emerging global power, investing in an alliance with the country.
Aggravating_Boy3873 on September 7th, 2023 at 15:56 UTC »
Nigeria is also a big economy and their population is booming. It is a lucrative future market for India+ China the same way thy were and still are for western countries.
The-first-laugh on September 7th, 2023 at 15:38 UTC »
SS: Indian PM Narendra Modi has pledged 14 billion dollars of investment for Nigeria, India had already ensured that Nigeria be part of the guest list of the G20 summit where India is also trying to add the African Union as the 21st member of the economic forum.
A bit of background, Nigeria was the largest oil supplier to India until around 2020's, the COVID 19 pandemic and Russia Ukraine war has caused Nigeria to lose this place to Russia, China is the biggest loan provider to Nigeria, this is a recipe of how to ensure that a neutral country allies with your worst adversary.
Realising this, India is now pledging 14 billion dollars of investment for infrastructure and oil refineries. The plan being that Nigeria sells oil at a discounted rate to India and Indian companies will refine them in Nigeria and export that to the World.
This is a win win for both as Nigeria gets jobs, India can increase its exports and curb inflation, lastly China doesn't dominate Nigeria's politics.