COVID-19: Nigeria Increases Debt, Gets €288.5 million From AfDB

Nigeria secured another emergency fund to support the economy amidst coronavirus. This time, the fund came from the African Development Bank (AfDB), which also disbursed funds to several countries in Sub-saharan Africa. This is one of few emergency funds Nigeria secured and still seeking for.

AfDB said the funds disbursed to Nigeria and other African countries are meant to act as a cushion for African economies struggling or battling with the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. AfDB had already projected that Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will drop by between $22.1 billion and $88.3 billion.

According to AfDB, the continent is tackling the pandemic with the experience from Ebola battle and the African countries need AfDB to be effected, “African countries, with the experience of having fought off Ebola, are working to adapt to this new threat and looking to the Bank for an effective, multilateral response to the crisis.”

In a statement released by AfDB, AllNews learnt that Nigeria got about €288.5 million, Senegal secured €88 million, Côte d’Ivoire was given €75 million, Cabo Verde got €30 million, ECOWAS – $22 million, completing the list for West Africa.

“Gambia, Mali and Niger will benefit from an ECOWAS support package to bolster national health systems in response to the pandemic. Much of the funds to this region will seek to address shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and other emergency equipment."

However, AfDB disbursed funds to five geographic regions in the continent; North, East, Central and Southern African nations, including West African countries. AfDB stated that “The support will also enable governments to provide shortfall cash to the millions of people who have been affected by mass layoffs or are unable to work because of lockdowns.”

Nigeria Got IMF Funds Too

AllNews had reported that the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, said Nigeria received $3.4 billion financing assistance it requested in April. According to Georgieva, out of the forty-loan request received from African countries, the loan given to Nigeria is the largest, and Nigeria must provide receipt.

Georgieva said about 20 countries, including Nigeria, have been able to receive the requested credit due to the pace at which the IMF is working to get capital into the hands of governments battling the fallout of COVID-19 pandemic. She explained that IMF understands the essence of speed at this crucial period.

Allnews had reported that Nigeria requested for emergency loan in a letter the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele and Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, wrote to Georgieva in April.

Ahmed had also disclosed in an AllNews report that Nigeria will have to borrow more from domestic and foreign creditors in order to fund the 2020 budget.

Nigeria's debt to international credit is as follows: World Bank Group tops the list with $10.1 billion, Beijing-based Export-Import Bank of China is second on the list with loans totaling $3.2 billion, while Eurobonds account for a total $10.86 billion or 39% of external debt.