•Says facility has 1% interest, 40-year tenure, 10-year moratorium
From Uche Usim, Washington DC
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, at the weekend, revealed that Nigeria has qualified for a $2.25 billion World Bank facility with 1 per cent interest, 40-year tenure and 10 years moratorium for repayment.
He made the disclosure at a joint media briefing with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Yemi Cardoso, to wrap up the 2024 World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC, United States.
According to him, discussions on the facility were being fine-tuned, adding that high-level meetings have been held to achieve it and equally widen foreign direct investment flows into the country.
“The loan is almost a grant. It’s part of what we discussed here. Investors are talking about building factories and creating jobs. There is greater interest and willingness to invest in Nigeria. We had robust engagements with the private sector. We spoke with foundations, like Bill Gates and Rockefeller etc. We spoke extensively on funding. Spoke on electricity generation, tackling bad roads and closing infrastructure gaps, among others,” he said.
Edun also spoke on plans to attract long term funds for long term uses to grow the economy. This will help in the area of mortgage.
“Social investment programmes have been revamped to help the poor. There is N1 million being granted to nano industries and all that,” he said.