China gives Nigeria $30m grant for grassroots projects

Spread the word Nigeria and China have signed a grant agreement worth RMB 200 million, about $30 million, to fund community-level development projects across the country.

The agreement was signed on Thursday at the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in Abuja. 

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and Chinese Ambassador Yu Dunhai led the ceremony, alongside the Minister of State, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, and the Permanent Secretary, Dr Deborah Odoh.

The money will go to projects under China’s “small but beautiful” initiative, which favours investments with practical results and direct community impact.

Bagudu said the priority was to ensure the commitments translate into measurable outcomes for Nigerians. 

He said the ministry, working with the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership Office, is developing projects proposed by states to address specific local needs.

He noted that the grant builds on a $1 million Chinese contribution earlier this year to strengthen Nigeria’s technological and knowledge capacity.

The minister also presented the Renewed Hope Ward Development Plan, which seeks to identify economic opportunities and map economically active people across the country’s 8,809 wards. He said Nigeria would like to share the plan with China and draw on its poverty-reduction experience, and stressed the need to train more Nigerian officials in China.

Yu described the grant as a concrete demonstration of Beijing’s commitment to Nigeria’s development priorities. 

He said it advances the consensus reached by Presidents Bola Tinubu and Xi Jinping and the outcomes of the Fourth China–Nigeria Cooperation Forum in Beijing. 

He added that 2026 marks 55 years of diplomatic relations between both countries.

The ambassador also spoke on trade. He said China’s zero-tariff policy on Nigerian exports, which took effect on 1 May 2026, could widen market access, attract investment and push Nigerian products up the value chain. He said bilateral trade reportedly reached $18 billion in the first half of the year, while Nigeria’s exports to China rose by 80 per cent.

He warned, however, that the arrangement expires on 1 May 2028. 

He urged both countries to use the remaining period to negotiate an economic development partnership agreement that would lock in the gains, and called on the budget ministry and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to advance the talks.

Odoh welcomed the grant as a show of confidence in Nigeria’s development priorities. She commended the Chinese Embassy and the relevant ministries, departments and agencies, particularly the International Cooperation and Legal Departments, for concluding the agreement.

The ministry said it would work with Chinese partners to ensure the projects are implemented transparently and efficiently.