Nigeria’s $288.5 Million AfDB Loan To Be Disbursed End Of June – AfDB

Nigeria will receive the $288.5 million emergency financing approved by Africa’s largest multilateral finance institution, the African Development Bank (AfDB), by the end of June,  AfDB’s Nigeria Senior Country Director, Ebrima Faal, has said.

AfDB last week approved the sum of $288.5 million to support the country to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses and households.

In an interview, Faal said the fund was a timely response to help the country recover from the economic  shocks resulting from the crash in crude oil prices and fall in businesses activities.

“We anticipate that we should be able to disburse the fund by the end of  the month,” he told local media, Channels.

He said the fund was.a low interest loan which would be repaid over 25 years.

“The fund is a timely response to the COVID- 19 pandemic, we are trying to support the government to strengthen the health system.  The conditions of the loan are quite concessionary, it is a long term loan of up to 25 years. In terms of rate,it is a low- interest loan and a long- tenor loan,” Fatal said.

According to him, the bank will  monitor and ensure the facility is  adequately managed and channeled to the right people and infrastructure.

He said funding local manufacturers to  produce testing kits was a priority for the bank, adding that small vulnerable groups who were adversely affected by the virus were  also captured in the loan.

Meanwhile, since the economic fallout the country has witnessed surge in ob loss at about 42% and closure of businesses, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.