*US signs $1.5bn power deal with govt

By OMOH GABRIEL,  Business Editor

PERTH – The Federal Government, yesterday, launched the Australia/Nigeria Trade and Investment Council as part of efforts aimed at attracting foreign direct investment into the country.

Also yesterday, Nigeria and the United States, in Abuja, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will enable independent power producers in Nigeria to access up to $1.5 billion facility to purchase equipment and services from the United States.

The facility is managed by the United States Export Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank), a government agency that provides export-credit insurance and financing, among other services, to help foreign buyers purchase US goods and services.

Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, signed the MoU on behalf of the government while Mr. Fred P. Hochberg, Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President, signed for the government of the United States at a brief ceremony in the ministry’s conference room.

The birth of the council was announced during the Australian/Nigerian Businessmen Presidential Dinner, hosted by President Goodluck Jonathan at the on-going Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.

The deal, which was sealed between Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, and the Australian Trade Minister, Dr. Craig Emerson, will attract investments from the top 10 Australian companies, including mining giant, Rio Tinto, into the mining, agriculture and financial services sectors of the Nigerian economy, among others.

The council, according to Aganga, will have secretariats in Australia and Lagos, while Australian famous businessman, Hugh Morgan, and the Chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council, Dr.  Paschal Dozie, will serve as co-chairs. It will be constituted by a maximum of 10 members each from the Nigerian and Australian sides.

$1.5bn facility for power expansion
Mean time, Nigeria and the United States, yesterday, in Abuja, signed an MoU that enables independent power producers in the country to access up to $1.5bn facility to purchase equipment and services from the United States.

At the signing of the MoU, Prof. Nnaji described the agreement as historic, as it gives investors in the power sector access to US goods and services which will help boost Nigerian’s bid to expand its electricity infrastructure. Mr. Hochberg, on his part, promised that the Ex-Im Bank would do more: “$1.5 billion is just a start… The bank will certainly consider additional financing if needed,” he said.