The Nigerian government said it had set aside 15 billion Naira (US$94 million) as loan for operators of mass transit buses in the country, in order to encourage them to patronise locally-made buses.
The private Punch newspapers Friday quoted Vice President Namadi Sambo to have said the loan would be accessed from the Infrastructure Bank at no extra cost.
“Access to cheap financing is important to encourage local manufacturing of mass transit buses. There is zero per cent interest rate money for the transporters to access, but only to buy from local manufacturers,” the Vice President said during a meeting of the Special Committee on National Mass Transit Framework in the capital city of Abuja.
He directed the Ministry of Trade and Investment to meet with local automobile manufacturers to ascertain their true production capacity and readiness to meet the demands of the operators.
The Vice President said the fund would also be extended to mass transit services in the country’s waterways and the railways.