The federal government yesterday confirmed the receipt of a $2.25 billion, foreign exchange facility from the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank).
The amount released is the first tranche of the $3.3 billion loan
The minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Mr. Wale Edun, said on Arise TV that the loan was aimed at resolving the acute forex shortage hampering the economy.
He said the balance of $1.05 billion will be received in the first week of January 2024.
The minister further said he was looking at a range of support mechanisms capable of bringing about all-round improvement in government finances and foreign exchange liquidity and was optimistic that Nigeria was on the right path.
While Afreximbank is the lead arranger of the $3.3 billion loan, some other sub-lenders included VITOL, Guvnor, Sahara Energy Group, Oando and the United Bank for Africa contributed $100 million
Recall that the NNPC had, in August, had announced that it had secured a $3 billion emergency loan from Afrieximbank to stabilise the country’s volatile foreign exchange market.
