Otu secures $3.5b funding for Bakassi deep seaport 

• C’River Speaker decries N740b debt by Ayade

Cross River State government has secured $3.5 billion in funding from the Pan-African multilateral financial institution, African Export-Importbank (Afreximbank) for some of its key infrastructure projects.

Governor Bassey Otu, who was in Egypt last week for a workshop, also visited Afreximbank in Cairo to explore the possibility of a partnership in key infrastructure projects in the state.

The workshops held during the visit culminated in the signing of a project preparation facility for the development of a deep seaport estimated to cost $3.5 billion.
The Afreximbank is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution with the mandate of financing and promoting intra-African trade.

Securing the funding at a workshop attended by the governor, as well as some of the key members of his government at the bank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Otu noted: “This is a world-class partnership that will result in repositioning Cross River State economically.”

Otu, who expressed excitement about the collaboration with Afreximbank,  emphasised the importance of the projects in driving economic growth and development in the state, highlighting the potential for attracting foreign investment and stimulating economic growth.

At the visit to Afreximbank, the governor also had extensive Government-to-Business (G2B) meetings with tier 1 companies, including Orascom Construction, Elsewedy Electric and Hassan Allam Holdings.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Elvert Ayambem, has decried the humongous loans acquired by the Governor Ben Ayade administration to the tune of N740 billion that has put the state on an edge.

From 2015, after four years under Ayade administration, Cross Rivers State had a domestic debt profile of ₦115.5 billion and an external debt of $136.4 million (₦138.4 billion). In his second tenure, he amassed a domestic debt of ₦197.2 billion and an external debt of $209.5 million (₦291.1 billion).
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the Speaker said that the debt burden and its effect on the current Otu’s administration cannot be quantified.

Ayambem also accused Ayade of concessioning all the viable projects, and yet, according to the Speaker, “you hear people saying that the former governor did not take any loan”.
He said: “These things that are in the public glare, and you will sit and say that he did not take any loan. That is outrageous.”