Nigeria To Set Up $20 Bln Infrastructure Bond To Fund Critical Projects ~ Trade Minister

Nigeria is proposing to borrow about $20 billion to improve its dilapidated infrastructure over the next decade, trade and investment minister said in a move that will see the West African country introducing infrastructure bond this year.
“Our target is that we’d like to see infrastructure spending increase to the $10- to $20-billion range over the next 5 to 10 years because we think that’s the level of our need,” Okechukwu Enelamah, the minister for trade and investment said.
He disclosed that the government has already set up a committee comprising ministers of finance, budget, trade and investment and works, housing and power, and other government agencies to work out modalities for the infrastructure bond.
The committee is expected to get their recommendations to the cabinet on how to increase our infrastructure spending significantly,” Enelamah said.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was re-elected for another term of four years is awaiting parliamentary approval 8.8 trillion-naira budget for 2019 with about 30 percent meant to fund infrastructure development.
Upgrading inadequate infrastructure in Africa’s most populous nation is among his priorities for this second four-year term, along with improving security and strengthening an economy, which contracted in 2016.
Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed had told a senate hearing on the 2019 budget that the country is currently facing challenges in revenue generation to fund budget outlay.
She told the parliament that the government will focus more on borrowing both locally and internationally, improve on our local borrowing, introduce an infrastructure bond and to identify new and enhance an existing revenue stream.”