U.S development bank invests $530mn in Nigeria’s financial, agricultural sectors

U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Wednesday announced it had committed $530 million to projects in the Nigerian financial, agriculture and health sectors as well as infrastructural development.

Vibhuti Jain, Regional Director for Africa at DFC, made the disclosure during a virtual dialogue on available project opportunities for Nigerian companies arranged by the American Business Council.

She stated that the DFC was expanding its focus on low-income countries like Nigeria, adding that it had so far bankrolled investments worth $29.5 billion in countries where it had presence.

The DFC intends to ramp up the current investments to $60 billion, having inaugurated a direct equity programme in January for suitable projects.

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“We are expanding access to impactful products and with the support of Afrinvest Fund IV and investing in highly developmental sectors such as healthcare and financial services,” Jain said.

She went further to disclose that her organisation was “mobilising private capital with Merck for mothers, Credit Suisse and the United States Agency for International Development to support LifeBank’s efforts in expanding access to lifesaving medical products, namely blood and blood products for mothers.”

The DFC, according to her, is eyeing new investment of between $5 million and $500 million in ventures that are seeking to address health crisis in developing countries as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that had stunted the growth of sturdy health systems.

Clare Sierawski, Power Africa Country Manager for West Africa, who also spoke at the conference, said American government was making project preparation assistance for companies to ease their access to DFC funds.

“Gas continues to be an area where we have a lot of interest. We have mini-grids projects in South-South and South-West Nigeria. We recently signed a deal with BCN for a subsea cable extension project that will land in Bonny Island,” he stated.

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