The Federal Government is working with the Indian Government to access 100 million dollars concessional loan to develop the country’s rural broadband connectivity.
The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu told newsmen on the sidelines of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day held in Abuja.
Shittu said that the loan to be accessed will be part of India’s 10 billion-dollar concessional loans to African countries for the implementation of projects of their national priority.
According to him, the rural broadband connectivity in India, “Inspired” his application for the 100 million dollar-loan for the project and Nigeria must be prepared to take advantage of the available opportunities, one of which is in securing of credit line for the development of rural backbone infrastructure.
He also said that Indian companies will be the installers of the equipment, “Because it is their technology that we will use the credit line to acquire.”
However, according to Shittu, the timeline for the implementation of the project had yet to be determined and the repayment of the loan will be, “Ironed out” by the Ministries of Finance and Budget and National Planning.
It would be recalled that in 2017 , 100 million dollars was made available to Nigeria to execute projects in the power sector including solar energy and rural electrification in three states: Kaduna, Cross River and Enugu.