17-01-09 Nigeria and Dubai have signed a preliminary agreement worth $ 16 bn to develop oil and gas infrastructure in Africa's top crude producer, officials said.
The deal will see Dubai World Corporation (DWC) wholly-owned by Dubai Emirate, investing in projects in the restive Niger Delta, Africa's oil and gas heartland, which accounts for nearly all of Nigeria's around 2.0 mm barrels of crude per day. Lack of development there is one of the grievances of militants who launched a violent campaign of sabotage against the oil industry in early 2006, shutting a fifth of Nigeria's crude output.

Nigeria's Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa and Dubai's Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem signed the agreement on behalf of their governments in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
"Nigeria is a land of opportunities... This agreement covers infrastructure projects with the main emphasis in oil and gas," Sulayem said at the signing ceremony.
The agreement also covers investment in the real sector, agriculture and power.