President Muhammadu Buhari has welcomed the acceptance of the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres to co-chair a Special Session to raise $50bn to fund the inter-basin water transfer from Central Africa to revive the Lake Chad.
Receiving the response of the Secretary-General to his earlier letter through the President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Nigeria’s Dr. Akinwumi Adesina at the State House, Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari said such a special forum was necessary in view of the size of capital required for the project which was unavailable to the Lake Chad Basin countries.

Addressing issues directly related to the AfDB, the President expressed delight with successes recorded in the four years of Dr Adesina’s tenure at the Bank.
President Buhari specifically cited the Bank’s contribution to the growth of Nigeria’s agriculture and infrastructure, and commended what he called “its critical gesture in 2016 during the difficult period of economic recession through the issuance of USD600 million budget support facility.”

The President used the occasion to highlight the successes achieved by the administration through the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP.
He stressed that his focus will continue to be on diversifying the economy and making it more inclusive as well as the creation of jobs in critical sectors like the Information Communication Technology, ICT and manufacturing so that “young people will earn a decent living.”