FG repaying 69 loans obtained by ex-presidents, W’Bank declares

The World Bank Group Finances has revealed that the Federal Government is still repaying $10.6bn in loans obtained under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umaru Musa Yaradua, and Goodluck Jonathan.

Recall that in June 2024, the Debt Management Office said as of March 31, 2024, Nigeria’s domestic and external debts stood at N121.67tn ($91.46bn).

The domestic debt was put at N65.65tn ($46.29bn), while external debt stood at N56.02tn ($42.12bn).

Saturday PUNCH gathered that part of the foreign debt was the $4.95bn in loans obtained by the current administration in its first 12 months, just as the Central Bank of Nigeria said a total of $15.55bn had been spent on debt servicing between 2019 and 2024.

However, the WBG Finances, a digital platform, revealed that the Federal Government was still repaying at least 69 different loans secured between 2000 and 2014.

The platform, an initiative of the World Bank Group Finance and Accounting, offers public financial data and portfolio information from across all WBG entities.

It said, part of the World Bank loans still being repaid include the Community Based Poverty Reduction Project ($60m), Second Primary Education Project ($55m), Economic Management Capacity Building Project ($20m), and Small Town Water Supply and Sanitation Programme Pilot Project ($5m), all obtained in 2000.

Those for 2001 include the Transmission Development Project ($100m), Privatisation Support Project ($114m), and HIV/AIDS Programme Development ($90.3m).

In 2002, the Federal Government obtained four loans totalling $438m, including the Second Health System Development ($127m), the Community-Based Urban Development Project ($110m), Lagos Urban Transport Project ($100m), and the Universal Basic Education Project ($101m).

Between 2003 and 2005, the government obtained WB loans worth $1.1bn, and they are all still being repaid. Some of the loan titles include the Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Project ($70m), Second FADAMA Development Project ($100m), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Project ($32m), Federal Government Economic Reform and Governance Project ($140m), and Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources ($120m).

Similarly, the government secured a total loan of $4bn between 2006 and 2010 and $4.3bn in other loans between 2011 and 2014. But they are all still being repaid as of June 30, 2024, when the platform was last updated.

Some of the loans obtained during this period are the Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance ($200m), Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project for Nigeria ($50m), and Malaria Control Booster Project ($180m), all secured in 2006.

As revealed on the platform, the loans are categorised under the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association, which make up the World Bank.

While IBRD lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, IDA provides interest-free loans – called credits – and grants to governments of the poorest countries.

However, the loan list does not include Trust Funds, Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs) Commitments, loans to IFC, nor IBRD/IDA guarantees, the platform revealed.