Debt: China May Be Angling To Own Nigeria

By Uche Mbah

Nigeria’s debt profile rose to $4.36 billion as at June 30, 2021, with China leading the pack of creditors, which include  France, Japan, India and Germany.

It was $3.85bn at the end of 2019, according to data obtained from the Debt Management Office.

China, which put stringent conditions in their loan agreements is known for shylock tendencies when it comes to loan recovery.

Recently, according to reports which were later denied, loosely, China seized and annexed the only International Airport in a Central African country, fuelling speculation that Nigerian infrastructure may yet travel the same road since Nigeria is continuously borrowing.

Nigeria spent $402.74m within a year and half servicing bilateral loans. She borrowed $400m to service the loans.

The interest on the new loan is still accumulating, while it added to the former debt.

The loans consist of roughly 14% of the total external debt, according to the Debt Management Office.

As at December 31, 2019, Nigeria owed $3.18bn to the Exim Bank of China.

Besides China, $76.13m is owed to France’s Agence Francaise Development, $361.75m to Japan International Cooperation Agency, $32.14m to the Exim Bank of India, and $202.27m to Germany’s Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbua.

Last year, Nigeria could not afford to service the debts owed Japan, France and Germany. But

$94.61m was paid to China and  $382,310 to India. This was in the first quarter of 2020. But in the second quarter, they serviced France and Germany with $14.22m and $44,340  respectively.