We Want To Save Nigeria, Others From Debt They Can’t Repay, US Tells FG

The United States has questioned Nigeria’s engagement with China particularly on the country’s high debt to the Asian giant.

Antony Blinken the US Secretary of State during a joint press conference in Abuja with Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, said Nigeria is being burdened with debt it can’t repay.

He disclosed the US position on the backdrop of the indebtedness of Nigeria and other African countries to China.

Nigeria’s total public debt is $86.57bn or N35.46trn from which $3.48bn is owed to China.

Nigeria is also hoping to borrow more from China to fund its 2022 budget and other infrastructural projects.

But Blinken denied that US renewed engagement with Africa and Nigeria was about China’s dominance in the continent.

Blinken said, “First and foremost, our engagement in Africa, with Africa, our partnership with Nigeria, with many other countries is not about China or any other third party.

“It’s about Africa. It is about working together to make investment in Africa, to make investments in its people and ultimately to ensure that across the board we help create the condition so that they are truly ultimately African led solutions to any of the challenges that Africa faces.

“But our support I think can be critical. In doing that when it comes to infrastructural investment, again this is not about China or anyone else. It is about what we will like to think of is a race to the top when it comes to those investments. So, it is not simply the resources themselves, it’s how they are used and according to what principles.

“In our case, the foreign ministry we have coming out of the G7 the Build Back Better World (B3W) and the feature of that programme is that there are certain principles by which all of the countries involved will make infrastructural investments including here in Africa.

“For example, we want to make sure that as investments are made, countries are not laboured with tremendous debt that they can’t repay; that is something we won’t do.”

The Secretary of State said the US is seeking to make sure that the right of workers are foremost in its minds.

Onyeama, speaking on behalf of the Federal Government said Nigeria’s debt is sustainable.

He added that the country’s indebtedness to China was based on the best deals available to the government.

He said, “Regarding the debt of the country, we have to be extremely prudent in this. We don’t just borrow and in fact in reality, our debt to GDP ratio is still much very good. So it’s sustainable debts, but that we focus on and keep our eyes on that.

“But the reality also is that Mr President realise that to industrialise, we just have to keep infrastructure in place and it is such a huge infrastructure deficit that we face in this country and we saw a great opportunity with the Chinese and they are used to a lot of huge capital projects and infrastructure projects.

“We would have gone with anybody else that was providing something at a competitive rate for us, but in many areas they were not.”

Onyeama said the issue of Chinese influence in Nigeria is not debatable as Nigeria is also indebted to Germany and Siemens.

He added, “So it is not a question of one country or the other. It is really a question of the best deal that we can strike. And we are paying for those. So the issue of Chinese influence really doesn’t come in, because these are not grants.

“These are not gifts, we are paying these things but making sure that we are incurring those debts sustainably.”