The Nigerian Senate has granted approval for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s initiative to secure a $500 million loan intended to support the mass metering project that focuses on the procurement of prepaid meters.
Key Senate figures, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and the Vice Chair of the committee, Haruna Manu, voiced their endorsement following the local and foreign debt committee’s recommendation.
Commitment to economically favorable loan terms was asserted, with assurances that the incurred debt would neither jeopardize nor impair the country’s economic progression.
Manu, on a session held on Wednesday, addressed the Senate, recommending the go-ahead for the $500 million negotiation as part of an external borrowing strategy, as well as mandating that details of the loan agreement from the funding body be provided to the National Assembly prior to finalization.
This loan forms a fraction of a larger external borrowing blueprint for 2022-2024, which also encompasses a $7.94 billion loan from the World Bank and an additional €100 million for which President Tinubu had previously sought consent in November 2023.
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However, the Senate previously reduced around $540 million from the original proposal in December 2023, sanctioning a total of $7.4 billion.
In conclusion, in the approved external borrowing plan for 2022-2024, the $500 million loan is supplementary to the $7.94 billion World Bank loan and the €100 million President Tinubu requested approval for back in November 2023.
This follows the Senate’s decision on December 30, 2023, to trim the loan request by approximately $540 million, ultimately approving $7.4 billion in total.
