Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday gave the Ministry of Finance the approval to obtain a French Development Agency’s credit of $60m for scale-up of the Second Rural Access and Mobility Project to include Imo State.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The National Assembly had in the Federal Government’s 2010 External Borrowing Plan approved the credit facility.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, in a memorandum presented at the meeting, said the development objectives of the project, like the first phase, was to improve transport conditions and bring sustained access to the rural population through the rehabilitation and maintenance of key rural transport infrastructure in a sustainable manner in the state.

She described the lack of accessibility, caused by highly deteriorated transport infrastructure, as a key determinant of rural poverty and low agricultural productivity.

The project is designed around three components that include upgrading, rehabilitation and maintenance of rural transport infrastructure; community-based road maintenance and mechanised maintenance; as well as project management and strengthening of the state road sector institutional, policy and regulatory framework.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said the council also approved €21m for the procurement of two tugboats.

Amaechi said the boats would be used for towage purposes on theNigerian waters.

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