Abu Dhabi, UAE– Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has allocated AED165 million ($45 million) to the Nigerian government to finance the Minna-Bida Road project, ADFD’s first development project in Nigeria, which is expected to stimulate commercial activities and improve transport links between the main cities in the country.
The Fund said the 82-kilometer road linking Minna, the capital of the state of Niger, with the city of Bida, will reduce travel time by 50 percent and lower the cost of vehicle operation by 31 percent. The road will feature two 7.3-metre-wide lanes.
The agreement was signed remotely by Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development; and Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning of Nigeria.
Al Suwaidi said that the agreement marked the start of a new partnership with Nigeria, further expanding the Fund’s development activity in Africa. “The project will facilitate transport and support economic sectors in the country.”
Ahmed, the Nigerian minister, said the project “identifies with the National Transport Policy, and hence the development aspirations of Nigeria”.
