Nigeria and the African Development Bank agreed on Monday, 12 October, in Bangkok to review the institution's project portfolio in the country, valued at more than $6.2 billion for 55 operations in the bank's latest update, published in May.
The technical review is to identify the obstacles slowing implementation, speed up delivery of operations and better align them with the government's economic priorities.
Nigeria's Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah agreed in principle to the review on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The ministry made the agreement public on Tuesday, 13 October.
The total of more than $6.2 billion covers public and private operations already included in the bank's portfolio in Nigeria.
The two officials also agreed to prepare an official visit by Sidi Ould Tah to Nigeria. The ministry said the visit is to focus on the country's development priorities and cooperation with the bank, without announcing a date.
Taiwo Oyedele reaffirmed that Nigeria intends to remain the bank's largest shareholder and to honour its capital subscription commitments. He also called for the partnership to translate into more development financing and faster implementation of existing projects.
Discussions also covered the high cost of African borrowing. Sidi Ould Tah said the bank was preparing a technical and analytical support mechanism to help governments present their data to credit rating agencies and, where appropriate, challenge certain assessments. The talks also covered local-currency transactions, trade insurance and credit enhancement mechanisms designed to reduce risk for investors.