Nigeria, UAE Sign Bilateral Agreement

Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that would see the emerging Asian tiger inject a staggering $16 billion USD direct investment into the Nigerian economy.
The investment would also cut across all major sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The MOU, which covers such important areas like the liquefied natural gas, power plants, ports, Abuja Mega City projects, infrastructures for Niger Delta region, agriculture and real estate was signed by the two countries in Abuja last week.
Michael Aondoaka, Nigeria’s minister of Justice/Attorney General, and Sultan Ahmad Bin Suleyem both signed the document on behalf of the Nigerian and UAE governments respectively.
Aondoaka said the signing of the MOU is part of the efforts of the incumbent government to improve on the state of infrastructure in the country. He also described the investment piloted by the UAE through its company, Dubai World, as unprecedented and the first of its kind in the history of the nation.
The minister also applauded Dubai World for its commitment to investing huge sum in Nigeria, especially in the areas of infrastructural development of the Niger Delta area and the construction of the Abuja Mega City.
According to him, “the injection of $16 billion into the nation’s economy would go a long way in transforming the country positively; therefore we want to assure the investors that the federal government would implement the various aspects of the agreement as signed.”
Giving a vote of thanks to the government of UAE for the bold step they have taken to invest heavily in Nigeria, Aondoaka equally used the forum to call on other nations to borrow a leaf from the Asian nation and invest in Nigeria; saying it is a potential market any day.
In his remarks, Sultan Bin Sulyem, the head of Dubai World delegation to the signing ceremony said they were happy to invest in Nigeria, describing the country as a land of opportunities that is capable of giving any investor real value for his money no matter the sector where the investor wants to put his resources.
Sulyem gave his verdict on Nigerians describing them as one of the finest people in the world: “Nigerians are well educated, we had an opportunity to work with many brilliant Nigerians, they are one of the brightest people and we are happy to work with more closely now especially in the oil and gas sector.”