President Muhammadu Buhari lauded China’s contributions to help Nigeria finance and build badly-needed infrastructure. “China’s playing a great role in reversing Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit,” he said in a statement following a farewell meeting on Tuesday with outgoing Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian (photo). 

As of March 30, 2020, Nigeria has borrowed $3.12 billion from China to finance 11 different infrastructure projects across the country, according to data from the Debt Management Office. But the president hopes to borrow a lot more in the future. Last month, the Nigerian Senate approved President Buhari’s request to take out an additional $22.7 billion of loans, with about $17 billion of that package expected to come from the China Exim Bank.