During the commissioning of the African Development Banks’ new office complex in Abuja earlier this month, Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun relayed a formal request by the Nigerian Government to host the AfDB’s West African regional hub.

Counting on Nigeria’s shareholding position in the bank, she said:

“I [would] like to put on record Nigeria’s strong desire and demand to host the regional hub of the African Development Bank. Nigeria is the natural and logical place for the Bank’s regional hub.”

The hub is to serve as a workplace of the bank’s Senior Management and Board of Directors in the West African region.

Adeosun further expressed Nigeria’s improved relationship with the Bank which has led to an all-time high portfolio of about US $6 billion spread across 73 public and private projects in the country.

Some of AfDB’s active investments in Nigeria include capital projects in oil, infrastructure and agriculture. These include a USD$500 million in the Development Bank of Nigeria, a USD$18 million commitment into the Fund for Financing Agriculture in Nigeria (FAFIN) and a corporate loan of US $300 million to Dangote Industries to promote the refining of petroleum products among others.