Nigeria secured about $1.2 billion in funding from the United Arab Emirates to help build part of a new freeway, the West African nation’s presidency announced December 26.

The loan will help finance the construction of a 56-kilometer (35-mile) stretch of the flagship Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway. The freeway is ultimately expected to run for 700 kilometers along Nigeria’s Atlantic coastline, linking several major economic hubs, and will be one of the country’s biggest infrastructure projects to date.

“This is a major achievement, and closing this transaction means the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway will continue unimpeded,” President Bola Tinubu said in an emailed statement. The government will continue to pursue creative financing options to support infrastructure development, he added.

The loan was fully underwritten by First Abu Dhabi Bank, with risk mitigation provided by the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit. Nigeria secured $747 million in financing for another section of the freeway in July.