Minister Says Nigeria Is Drawing Significant Funding Offers From Financial Institutions

Nigeria has received several offers of funding from investors and institutional lenders, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has said.

The current market environment is an opportunity for the country to refinance part of its existing debt and mobilise additional resources for development, Mr Oyedele said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

“We think that the timing is good for us to be able to maybe even refinance some of our expensive past debts, but also to raise more funding for our development at this critical time,” he added.

Asked if Nigeria would seek a Eurobond issue or other commercial sources of finance, the minister said any decision would be based on market conditions, the size of funding needed and the speed at which the government wants to access the funds.

The country now has several financing options available, he said.

“We have a lot of offers, there is a lot of interest in Nigeria by investors, which is good for us,” Mr. Oyedele said.

He said Nigeria also was speaking to institutional lenders, such as the African Finance Corporation (AFC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Afreximbank, and financing arrangements with other countries.

“We have a lot of choices,” he said.

Before arriving at the most appropriate financing strategy, the cost, risks and appropriateness of funding sources available to meet the need would be considered, he said.

“The objective is to make optimal use of resources in support of the development priorities of the country,” he said.

“We want to get the most out of every dollar or every naira we spend,” he added.