By Tosin Olatokunbo
The Debt Management Office, DMO has listed various projects across the country that will benefit from over $5 billion yet- to-be assessed loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, World Bank Group and other international development agencies. The loans have already been approved by the National Assembly and were supposed to have been disbursed last December, but were still being held by various development partners.
According to the DMO, $1.25 billion is still being expected from the Chinese Bank aside Agence Francaise de Development from where the country is expecting more than 500 million Euros and another $425 million from the European Development Fund, EDF.
The Office said the disbursement of the loans will take the country’s total foreign debt to close to $38 billion.
The agency has listed projects and agencies that would benefit from the undisbursed funds to include the Nigeria Greater Abuja Water Supply Project, Nigerian Supply of Rolling Stock and Depot Equipment for Abuja Light Rail Project, Nigerian National Information Communication Technology Infrastructure Backbone Phase II Project; Four Airport Terminals Expansion Incremental Project and the Nigerian Four Airport Terminals Expansion Ancillary Project.
Others projects are Nigerian 40 Parboiled Rice Processing Plants Project, Say No to Famine of Nigeria, Nigeria Transmission Expansion Project Phase I (NTEP-1), Nigeria Transmission Expansion Project Phase I (NTEP-1) (AGTF); Second Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE 3) Project; Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project; the Northern Corridor Power Transmission Project; and the Enhancing Vocational Training Delivery for the Power Sector in Nigeria.
They also include the Northern Core Dorsal Nord Regional Power Interconnector Project; the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project; the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills Project; the Immunisation Plus & Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Service; the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement Project; the Power Sector Recovery Programme for Results Project; the Second Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact Project and the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project.
The Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Programme for Lake Chad Recovery and Development PROLAC – Additional Financing; the Nigeria Covid-19 Preparedness and Response Project; the Edo State Basic Education Sector and Skills Transformation Operations; the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Programme, AGILE Project; the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project; the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project; and the Nigeria Climate Adaptation Erosion and Watershed Project were also listed among the beneficiary projects.
Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at the last quarter of last year, according to DMO stood at over N32 trillion or $84 billion.
