Nigerian vice president H.E. Mohammad Namadi Sambo and his accompanying delegation paid a visit to IDB Group headquarters in Jeddah on September 3rd, 2010 and conferred with the president of the Islamic Development Bank Group, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali.
During the working session followed by an Iftar reception hosted by IDB Group president, the Nigerian vice-president conveyed the greetings of the President of the Republic of Nigeria to IDB Group president and expressed satisfaction over the trend of relations between his respective country and IDB Group noting that Nigeria views IDB as an optional partner in achieving the desired level of socio-economic development. Elaborating on the Nigerian government’s development goals, Mr. Sambo stated that his country is adopting a vision whereby it is expected to become one of the most developed nations of the world by the year 2020. “To achieve this end, huge investments specially in the field of energy and transportation need to be made in Nigeria”, said the top ranking official underlining that in addition to the said fields the Republic of Nigeria is also seeking the assistance of the IDB Group in housing and education sectors including in improvement of a bilingual (Arabic-English) educational system. Putting forth a proposal to mark IDB Investment Day in his country to promote different IDB Group affiliates including ITFC, ICIEC and ICD, the visiting Nigerian vice-president also extended an official invitation to IDB Group President, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali to visit the nation.
The IDB president for his part accepted the invitation and extended congratulations to the Republic of Nigeria over its capital increase with the IDB which now stands at 8.6% of the Bank’s capital registering an amount of US$ 2 billion. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali then expressed hope that the increasing cooperation between Nigeria and IDB would materialize further infrastructural development in favor of the Nigerian people.