Dangote Group, the company owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, signed a deal on Tuesday for a $2 billion loan from the Industrial Commercial Bank of China Ltd for two cement plants, he told Reuters.
“The interest rate is okay, quite favorable with me,” Dangote said, without elaborating. “It’s for my two cement companies that we are establishing in Nigeria.”
The deal included China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation
Meanwhile the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) , the world’s biggest lender, and Nigeria’s central bank on Tuesday also signed an agreement on yuan transactions, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said.
“It means that the renminbi (yuan) is free to flow among different banks in Nigeria and the renminbi has been included in the foreign exchange reserves of Nigeria,” Lin Songtian, director general of the foreign ministry’s African affairs department, told reporters.
The agreement was reached following a meeting between Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Nigeria has already converted up to a tenth of its reserves into yuan five years ago.
Songtian said a framework on currency swaps has been agreed with Nigeria making it easier to settle trade deals in yuan.
China has currency swap deals with countries ranging from Kazakhstan to Argentina and New Zealand.