§ Mr. John E. B. Hillasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much British aid he is offering in support of the Nigerian Development Plan 1970–74.
§ Mr. WoodThe Nigerian Government intends to carry out its four-year Development and Reconstruction Plan during the period ending March, 1974. The Plan calls for a total expenditure in the public sector of £910 million, of which £176 million will have to be found outside Nigeria's own resources. Her Majesty's Government have offered the 185W Federal Military Government a loan of £13 million for the provision of British goods and services. Up to £3 million of this loan will be used as soon as possible for the purchase of miscellaneous capital goods, and the balance is being earmarked for project aid. This loan will carry interest at a rate of 2 per cent. and have a maturity of 25 years. The Federal Military Government has expressed its satisfaction at this offer.
During the period of the Plan I am also continuing to disburse an estimated total of £13.85 million of capital aid in respect of existing commitments. The Federal Military Government has been told that we expect to maintain the value of our technical assistance to Nigeria at about £6 million over the four-year period.
Her Majesty's Government will also be giving substantial indirect aid to the Plan through their contributions to the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the specialised agencies.
The Federal Military Government has also accepted our offer to reimburse the cost of expatriate pensions which it pays in respect of pre-independence service in Nigeria. This offer will take effect from the year 1971–72 and is likely to be equivalent to a saving on Nigeria's foreign exchange commitments of about £4.5 million during the period of the Plan.
Further commitments have been undertaken in Nigeria by the Commonwealth Development Corporation in 1970. These will total about £1.8 million, and the Corporation is looking for further opportunities for investment.
I hope that British private investors will also contribute to Nigeria's development during the Plan and that the measures outlined in the recent White Paper on British Private Investment in Developing Countries will help them to do so. Apart from any such investments, the total contribution by Britain to Nigeria's four-year Plan will be about £39 million.