/ 30 September 1999

WORLD BANK CHIEF IN NIGERIA

WORLD BANK President James Wolfensohn is due in Nigeria next week for an official visit, the bank office in Nigeria said Thursday. Wolfensohn will arrive Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Wednesday accompanied by his wife, Elaine, said spokesman Obadiah Tohomdet in an official statement. The statement said that the World Bank chief would hold talks with President Olusegun Obasanjo, government officials, private sector operators, donor agencies and journalists. He will also inspect some World Bank-assisted projects in the economic capital Lagos and the northern state of Kano. Nigerian officials are expected to discuss the country’s crippling debt burden of more than 30 billion dollars with the bank chief. Last week at the World Bank/IMF meeting in Washington, Obasanjo urged creditor nations to consider debt relief to developing countries. He also sought the assistance of developed countries in recovering millions of dollars in funds looted by past military regimes and stashed in foreign countries Wolfensohn will leave for South Africa on October 9, the statement said.