It was widely reported that President Buhari during his trip to China, allegedly applied for a $2billion loan deal with the Chinese government, and the news met mixed reactions and criticisms. The presidency has now broken its silence on the issue.
President Buhari and Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, was on Radio Continental recently and spoke on sundry topics.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Let us talk about the China trip. What took you over there and what happened there?
As you know, China has a surfeit of infrastructure, while Nigeria has infrastructure deficit. What took us out there was how we could benefit from this surfeit that China has in terms of infrastructure, particularly rail, housing, agric, solid minerals, all the sectors in which Nigeria needs improvement. How can China be of benefit to us was what took the President and his delegation out there. And I must say that it was a splendid visit, a visit that inspired every member of the delegation. And you know when you get inspired, you then begin to aspire. We saw so many wonderful things in China and we began to ask ourselves; when will our country get there? But then we aspire to also get there. God is great, I know we will get there.

When do we actually hope to see the specific materialisation of all these MOUs that we had signed in China?
Well, it is said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. We have taken that first step, like that man who went to the moon and said one single step but a giant leap for humanity. We have taken that single step that may become a giant leap for Nigeria, but a lot will depend on us. What happened the last time was that the former government went to China and signed exactly the same agreements that we have just signed. Thereafter, they went to bed, nothing was done because most of the agreements have what you call counterpart funding. That was the time Nigeria was awash with money. Oil was selling for 100 dollars up to 140 dollars per barrel. We could have met our parts of the agreements easily, but we didn’t pay. Now, oil sells for 30-40 dollars, and we have signed the agreements again. The difference is that a government with integrity will keep whatever agreement it has signed. And we know this is a government of integrity, the counterpart funding will be paid and when that is done, China will move in. Without Nigeria fulfilling its own part of the bargain, China may not come. But a lot depends on us and I believe that this government has all that it takes to keep its promises.

Did you actually borrow money from China?
Borrowing money was never on the table. I will tell you the story. One news agency ran a false story that we went to ask for 2 billion dollars loan in China. The story was concocted in the imagination of the reporter. And I called that reporter and asked him where he got the story, and he apologized to me. You filed a false story, which you know is unprofessional and unethical. The next thing is to retract that story. He didn’t. We issued our statement that we were going to China, and this is what we were going to do. You will not find loan anywhere in our statement. We stated what we were going to do and that was exactly what we did. But unfortunately, Nigerians at times just hear the first word and believe it. In fact, a Governor based his own tomfoolery on the fact that it had been published that a 2 billion dollars loan was going to be taken. Loan was never on the table and no loan was taken. What happened was there were investment deals. And in investment deals, you know it is not everything that is going to be a grant or a dash. You have a part to play. That is what happened in China.

In which aspects of the economy will these deals happen?
Various aspects, One, power. There is a deal to generate 200 megawatts of electricity at Shiroro that is going to be solar driven. That is for power and then you have in transport. There is going be a road, -Lagos-Ibadan-Abuja, different from the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, that is going to be built for 1 billion dollars. And then you have an export free trade zone in Ogun State worth one billion dollars also. You have an agric project in Kogi, and you have a housing project in which 27 storey buildings will be built in different parts of the country.

On the currency swap, people will love to understand what that is exactly about?
I have some ideas about the currency swap, but I don’t fully understand it, as I am not an economist. I have spoken with the CBN people in trying to understand it, but it is work in progress. When I spoke with the CBN, what I was told was that when it is fully done, there will now be an education process for Nigerians. But the little I can say about it is that Yuan will now be a currency of trade between Nigeria and China. They are going to advance us some billions of Yuan, which we will put in our external reserves. It is not going to show in our balance sheet as a country. It will be used to finance trade between Nigeria and China. There will be less pressure on the naira and less pressure on the dollar. That is my layman understanding of it.


http://www.levitoday.com/2016/04/currency-swap-alleged-2b-loan-deal-more.html

Tales by moonlight.