Medvedev in Nigeria to seal nuclear, gas pacts

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Nigeria yesterday to sign a raft of pacts including key energy deals as part of a tour aimed at challenging Chinese and Western interests in Africa.

The first Kremlin leader to visit the energy-rich nation was greeted with a machine-gun salute - reserved for visiting heads of state - at President Umaru Yar'Adua's palm-lined villa in the capital Abuja.

Russia is negotiating to build a nuclear power plant in Nigeria and Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is set on further reinforcing its position as a cornerstone supplier for Europe and North America, officials said.

Taken together, deals also covering cooperation in space, telecoms and geological prospecting underline Russian strategic moves to challenge Chinese and Western interests in Africa relinquished in early post-Soviet times.

"We have in principle agreed that we need to create conditions" for cooperation in nuclear projects, said Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of Russian nuclear state corporation Rosatom.

The broad agreement to be signed will allow for the construction of a nuclear station and a research reactor and training of personnel, he said.

The pact, prepared in "record short time," underlined the effects of a crippling electricity power crisis, Mr Kiriyenko added.

Russia could also explore for uranium in Nigeria although the lack of clear data on reserves was holding back cooperation in that sphere, he said.