Buhari’s New $8.325b, €490m External Loan Request Has Been Approved By Senate.

President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s request for $8.3 billion (N8,325,536,537) loan has been granted by the Senate. They also approved the president’s request for €490 million.

The loans were approved under the 2018 – 2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan by the Senate on Thursday, July 15, after the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts evaluated its report. Clifford Ordia, the committee’s chairman, presented the report.

President Muhammadu Buhari had requested that the loan be approved by the National Assembly in May.

According to him, the loan approval will allow projects listed in the 2018-2020 External Borrowing Plan to be financed through sovereign loans from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), French Development Agency (AFD), Islamic Development Bank, China EXIMBank, China Development Bank, European Investment Bank, European ECA, KfW, lPEX, AFC, India EximBank, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Mr. Ordia stated in his presentation that the projects are aimed at realizing the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan, which spans key sectors such as infrastructure, health, agriculture, and food security, energy, education, and human capital development, as well as COVID 19 response efforts in the country’s six geopolitical zones.

Following the adoption of the committee’s findings, the Senate approved the loan.