President Buhari’s first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was on September 28, 2015, at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Meeting in New York. Following this, the President participated in the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), with the theme “China-Africa Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development” in Johannesburg, South Africa, from December 4-5, 2015.
At the FOCAC, China announced a package of 60 billion U.S. dollars of funding for African countries, as follows:
- 5 billion dollars of aid and interest-free loans
- 35 billion dollars of preferential loans and export credit
- 5 billion dollars of additional capital for the China-Africa Development Fund
- 5 billion dollars of additional capital for the Special Loan for the Development of African SMEs
- 10 billion dollars for the take-off of a China-Africa production capacity cooperation fund.
Between April 11 and 15, 2016, President Buhari embarked on an important international trip, a Working Visit to China. He was the first African leader invited on a State Visit to China, after the FOCAC 2015. The primary aim was to secure greater support from Beijing for the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure (power, roads, railways, aviation, water supply and housing), agriculture and solid minerals.
He met separately with President Xi Jinping; Premier Li Keqiang; the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples’ Congress, Zhang Dejiang; Mr Yang Xiong, Mayor of Shanghai City; and was hosted to a reception by the Secretary of the Communist Party of China in Guangdong Province, Mr. Hu Chunhua.
During the Trip the President also opened a China-Nigeria Business/Investment Forum in Beijing.
During a meeting with Mr Li Keqiang, the Premier of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China, President Buhari regretted the failure of past governments to meet Nigeria’s obligations in joint projects with China, and pledged that his administration will honour all agreements concluded between Nigeria and China under previous administrations to ensure the speedy completion of outstanding joint projects, including the 4,000 megawatts Mambilla Hydro-Electric Power Project.
The following Agreements were signed between Nigeria and China on that State Visit:
– Framework Agreement between the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the National Development and Reform Commission of the Peoples’ Republic of China to Boost Industrial Activities and Infrastructural Development in Nigeria.
– Framework Agreement between the Federal Ministry of Communications and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation,
– Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and China on Scientific and Technological Cooperation.
The following were also agreed:
– President Xi offered 15 million U.S. dollars agricultural assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of 50 Agricultural Demonstration Farms across the country.
– China and Nigeria agreed to strengthen military and civil service exchanges as part of a larger capacity-building engagement. In line with this, China offered to raise its scholarship awards to Nigerian students from about 100 to 700 annually. In addition, 1,000 other Nigerians are to be given vocational and technical training by China annually.
While in China President Buhari directed the immediate establishment of Nigerian Government technical committees to finalize discussions on the proposed Chinese funding for rail, power, manufacturing, agricultural and solid mineral projects.
In July 2016, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, led a Nigerian government delegation to a Coordination Meeting planned as a follow-up to the December 2015 Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The Nigerian delegation joined delegations from more than 50 African countries, to meet and discuss with Chinese government officials.
Their mandate: to ensure the implementation of the bilateral agreements signed during President Buhari’s State Visit to China in April, as well as present and discuss a shortlist of Nigerian infrastructure and industrial projects selected to benefit from China’s $60 billion Infrastructure and Human Development assistance to African countries. Senator Udoma said, at the time: “Our relationship with China is very important to us, which was why our President led a big delegation on a State visit to China in April this year. We are quite impressed with the infrastructural development in China and believe that China has a lot to teach us in Nigeria; particularly we will like the support of China in the area of infrastructure development.”
The priority projects presented by the Minister to the Chinese Exim Bank included: Nigerian railway modernization projects from Lagos to Kano (Lagos–Ibadan) and (Kano – Kaduna)
– The coastal railway project from Calabar to Lagos
– The Mambilla Hydro-electric project
– Niger Delta East West road project.
– Others include power transmission projects, Greater Abuja Water project, Abuja Mass Transit project, Galaxy Backbone project, NTA Digitalization, Expansion of Abuja-Keffi road, and the dualization of the Akwanga – Keffi road.
Quotes from President Buhari’s 2016 Trip to China
“Although the Nigerian and Chinese business communities have recorded tremendous successes in bilateral trade, there is a large trade imbalance in favour of China as Chinese exports represent some 80 per cent of the total bilateral trade volumes. This gap needs to be reduced. Therefore, I would like to challenge the business communities in both countries to work together to reduce the trade imbalance… You must not see Nigeria as a consumer market alone, but as an investment destination where goods can be manufactured and consumed locally.”
“Last year [2015], during our meeting in New York, President Xi Jinping and I agreed to explore ways of practical cooperation in trade, investment, finance, human resources, agriculture and fishing. We also agreed to strengthen industrial capacity cooperation in the manufacture of cars, household appliances, construction materials, textiles, food processing, and others.”
“We have an aggressive but realistic infrastructure development programme that forms the backbone of our economic diversification policy. We are embarking on major power, road, rail, seaport and airport development programmes that will enhance the competitiveness of manufacturing businesses in Nigeria.”
“Clearly, our vision of a diversified and inclusive economy will not be achieved overnight. It will be a long, and in some cases, painful journey. I am very confident we will get there. But we must start that journey now. We hear proposals for short cuts or quick wins. However, all we need to do is look at our history to know that there are no quick wins or short cuts in fixing Nigeria. The many decades of damage and destruction cannot be repaired overnight.”
“The reform program we are implementing is not because oil prices are below $45 per barrel today. It is because when oil prices were over $100 per barrel, majority of Nigerians were still suffering. They were simply forgotten and left behind. So, our reforms are to ensure that the majority of Nigerians are not left behind.”
What you need to know about trade between Nigeria and China
Business and trade relations between Nigeria and China have grown astronomically in the last decade with bilateral trade volumes rising from USD2.8 billion in 2005 to about USD14 billion in 2017.
Nigeria accounted for about 10 per cent of the total trade volume between China and Africa and 42 per cent of the total trade volume between China and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries, in 2015.
(State House)
