Oyo State Infrastructure Dev Among Deals Worth Billions Signed At UK-Africa Investment Summit

 Deals worth billions signed at UK-Africa Investment Summit In London.

Following the UK-Africa Investment Summit held in London, Nigeria can boast of itch-free business relationship with Britain, who has sought to boost trade in view of UK's imminent exit from the European Union.  Among notable deals with Nigeria is Oyo State modern street-lighting infrastructure embarked upon by Governor Seyi Makinde. The summit has emphasised United Kingdom aim to be Africa's partner of choice for trade and investment, NUJ Europe reports.

The stance was made during the UK-Africa Investment Summit hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It was attended by Presidents and top government representatives of African nations. President Muhammadu Buhari has over the weekend pen-ultimate the summit visited Prince of Wales and also earlier  met with  some Nigerians in the diaspora, including the 2-time world Heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.

In the lead up to the Summit, £6.5 billion of commercial deals were signed by British companies and Africa to deliver jobs, growth and investment across the UK and Africa, with further deals worth billions made during the Summit.

The deals involved well-known British firms such as Matalan, who have announced a £25m investment into Egypt to launch 11 new shopping outlets; GSK who have committed a further £5m investment into Egypt; and Diageo who have announced a £167m investment into Kenya and East Africa to support the sustainability of breweries.

International Development Secretary Alok Sharma said:

 'We have much to offer African nations - UK aid is tackling climate change and supporting women entrepreneurs, our tech and digital expertise is helping Africa grow new industries and the City of London is channelling billions of private investment into Africa, boosting jobs and growth.

'This Summit is a major step in unlocking the UK’s unique offer, becoming Africa’s investment partner of choice and benefiting people and businesses across the UK and Africa."

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: 

'It’s great to see so many British firms paving the way in trading and investing in the region to drive growth, create jobs and boost vital infrastructure.

A summary of the deals

Deals between UK companies and their African partners include:

• Aggreko signed an £80m contact extension for energy provision in Cote D’Ivoire
• Airbus sold £80m of aircraft in Egypt
• Anglo-Tunisian Oil and Gas invest £26m in Tunisian gas assets.
• Aqua Africa win £26m export contract to supply solar powered water filtration systems in Ghana.
• Baker Hughes £306m export and investment of deep-sea equipment and scholarships in Mozambique
• BHM £80.3m work on the Tema-Aflao Road Project in Ghana.
• Bombardier’s £3,180m construction and operation of 2 monorail lines in Cairo.
• Contracta Construction UK win £120.5m export contract to upgrade Kumasi teaching hospital in Ghana.
• Contracta Construction UK win £40m export contract to develop Kumasi airport in Ghana.
• Tullow invest £1,200m in continued oil production in Kenya.
• Tyllium and Ellipse win an export contract worth £60m to provide 250 new beds for a general hospital in Koforidua in Ghana.
• Unatrac win a £1.5m export contract to supply machinery for Ugandan roads.
• Diageo invest £167m to improved sustainability of breweries in Kenya & East Africa.
• Globeleq invest £50m to help build of Malindi photovoltaic solar park in Kenya.
• GSK invest £5m in Egypt to upgrade two production lines.
• Kefi Minerals invest £224m in a new gold mine and to develop local infrastructure in Kenya.
• Lagan Group win a £185 export contract for the construction of Kampala Industrial Business Park in Uganda.
• Lloyds Register invest £0.76m to set up operations in Mozambique.
• Matalan invest £25m to open 13 new outlets in Egypt.
• Moy Park to export £12m of frozen chicken to Angola.
• Nexus Green export £80m of solar powered water pumping systems for irrigation in Uganda.
• NMS Infrastructure invest £222m in the construction of 6 hospitals in Côte D’Ivoire.
• Rolls Royce purchase £50m of aircraft engines in Egypt.

 Nigeria -UK signed deals 

• Low Energy Designs win an export contract to install street lighting for Oyo state in Nigeria.

• Trilliant to install £5m of Smart Metering to Abuja DisCo In Nigeria.
• Savannah invest £315m in the acquisition and investment of ingas assets in Nigeria. 
• Tex ATC to install 5 Airport control room towers worth £2m in Nigeria.

Put together by Lashley Oladigbolu, accredited Journalist of the World Bank Online Media Briefing Centre.