Nigeria Seeks Japan’s Support for Power, Infrastructure Development

Vice-President Namadi Sambo

Sambo: Agric key to societal rejuvenation

By: Tokunbo Adedoja in Yokohama, Japan and Muhammad Bello in Abuja

Nigeria has called on Japan to support the ongoing efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan administration to reform the power sector and develop the nation’s infrastructure.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo made the call yesterday, during a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe, on the sidelines of the ongoing fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) in Yokohama.

Similarly, the vice-president said the agricultural sector was a key factor in tackling Africa’s myriad of challenges as well as a means towards achieving sustainable economic growth on the continent.

Sambo’s call is coming a day after Japan, in an unprecedented move to free Africa from the shackles of underdevelopment, announced a 3.2 trillion yen ($32 billion) assistance package for the continent, including a 650 billion yen (approximately $6.5 billion) infrastructure investment over the next five years, in the area of building international corridors that link inland areas with the coasts, and power grids.

Noting that reforming the power sector and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure were key priorities of the Jonathan administration, the vice-president told the Japanese Prime Minister that: “We are looking forward to continued support particularly in addressing infrastructural development in Nigeria.”

He also informed Abe that Nigeria was working hard to address the issues that militate against the nation’s goals, particularly in the area of power supply, transportation, health, education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Sambo also briefed the Japanese leader on the efforts being made to address the security challenges confronting some states in the North citing the declaration of state of emergency in the affected areas as part of those efforts.

Noting that for the past 20 years, Nigeria had been benefitting from Japan through TICAD, he solicited for more support particularly now with the new drive towards addressing development through public private partnership.

Sambo also used yesterday’s bilateral talks, which was attended by Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Segun Aganga, his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Mr. Olusegun Ashiru and officials of the Nigerian embassy in Tokyo, to express Nigeria’s appreciation to Japan for the various assistance it had received from the Asian country.

In his response, Abe obliged Nigeria’s request saying, “We will like to provide support for infrastructural development of your country as articulated by you.”

He, however, sought for Nigeria’s support for Japan’s bid to host 2020 Summer Olympic Games and for a slot on the United Nations Security Council.

Also yesterday, Sambo held meetings with Japanese companies and business leaders as part of efforts to attract foreign investors to the country. The companies include Mizuho Corporate Bank Limited, Sojitz Corporation, Energy and Metal Division, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Nippon Foundation and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Areas of business interest discussed with the companies included gas infrastructure, agriculture, and power sector.

In the last five years alone, Japan’s Official Direct Assistance (ODA) to Nigeria has increased from $72.55 million to 144.98 million between 2008 and 2012, an increase of about 200 per cent. The total amount of grants rose from $55.01 million to $103.47 million, while technical assistance to Nigeria rose from $17.54 million to $41.51 million within the same period.

Also, in the last 45 years of bilateral relations between both countries, the total amount of Japan’s ODA budget to Nigeria from Fiscal Year 1967 to 2012 comprised of 78.3 billion yen (approximately N156.6 billion) in loans, 291.6 billion yen (approximately N583.2 billion, including a debt relief of 243.9 billion yen, approximately N487.8 billion), in grant, and technical assistance amounting to 15.4 billion yen (approximately N30.8 billion).

Meanwhile, Sambo, while speaking on the impact of agriculture to development, noted that agriculture accounted for a large chunk of nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), stressing that the federal government placed high premium on the reformation of the sector as a veritable means of diversifying the nation’s economy and tackling unemployment.

The Vice-President, according to his spokesperson, Alhaji Sani Umar, said: “In 2012 for instance, agriculture contributed 35 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP. It is with this in mind that the Nigerian Government has outlined a well-articulated agricultural reform programme aimed at developing the country’s agriculture sector through private sector-led inclusive growth strategy with the ultimate aim at diversifying Nigeria’s economy away from oil.”

He, therefore, urged sister African countries to borrow a leaf from Nigeria, as Nigeria had moved from looking at Agriculture as a programme to looking at it as a business enterprise that needs to be nurtured and sustained.

“For African countries, including Nigeria, to achieve a sustainable growth, it is imperative that agriculture be developed across the value chain. This is because agriculture is the continent’s backbone, employing about 70 per cent of the workforce and accounting for about a third of Africa’s GDP,” he said.

Sambo also enjoined the Japanese government through TICAD, to partner Africa in order to reposition her agricultural sector as a means of achieving sustainable growth.

According to him, “there is an important role TICAD V can play in assisting us develop agri-business. TICAD V is in position to support African entrepreneurs in the area of processing agricultural products for value addition.

“Furthermore, we require support in upstream agricultural activities like supplying of inputs and facilitating access to agricultural machineries and technologies that would invariably increase the international competitiveness of our agricultural products in the international market.”