Nigeria's Budget Minister in Vienna, and the water behind the bonds

Beneath the glass roof of the Reitersaal at Oesterreichische Kontrollbank, we spoke with Nigeria's Budget Minister. Anton Dominik Fernkorn's St George fountain stands in that hall, once the courtyard of Palais Montenuovo. Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Federal Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, was the guest of honour at that October evening's reception, and we were among its guests.

Our desks are in Vienna and Lagos, and this evening joined the two. Just over two weeks before, we had been at the Lagos end, running BWT's stand at Big 5 Construct Nigeria. Now the traffic came the other way. Prosper Africa, an Africa-focused consultancy with a hub in Vienna, gave the reception with the commercial law firm AKELA, under the title "Nigeria & Austria: Building Strong Bonds for the Future".

By the hosts' account, no Nigerian Budget Minister had visited Vienna before. Senator Bagudu came with a delegation from Nigeria's budget and finance ministries for three days of meetings, including talks at the Vienna Stock Exchange. Capital was the point. Abuja has set up ESME Nigeria, a government-owned vehicle for green technology, and the hosts reported plans to place bonds of up to 1.5 billion euros in Vienna. Minister Bagudu spoke that evening, as did Dr Michael Spindelegger, a former Austrian Vice-Chancellor.

Water is part of ESME Nigeria's green portfolio. In Lagos, we design the water systems of estates, and our BWT partnership covers Nigeria. Bonds raise the money. Water still has to move through pipes, and that part is engineering.

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