The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AfDB

  • AfDB plans $1.5b projects for Niger Delta, others

    AfDB plans $1.5b projects for Niger Delta, others

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) is to spend $1.5 billion on projects in the Niger Delta region, Abuja and some states, the bank’s representative in Nigeria, Dr. Ousmane Dore, has said.

    He told The Nation that the projects include the construction of East-West highway in the Niger Delta region, financing of Abuja urban transportation programmes and agriculture.

    He said: “We are developing new operations for Nigeria to enable us to finance road projects in the Niger Delta region, Abuja urban transportation programmes, and agricultural initiatives.

    “These projects are contained in the new developmental strategy being mapped out for Nigeria. They are projects the bank is preparing for the country.

    “We will go to the board of the bank for approval soon. Immediately the board approves it, implementation of the projects would start as part of our ongoing concern to improve infrastructure in the country.”

    He said the projects would have a gestation period of four years (2013-2016), adding that they are short term.

    He said the decision to evolve a new financing strategy for the country was borne out of the need to encourage growth of some sensitive areas.

    He said the projects are new and different from the ones earlier approved and executed by the bank. The projects, he said, are not only developmental, but underscore the bank’s plans and programmes for member states.

    Dore said the bank had earlier approved $2.2 billion for infrastructural projects in Nigeria, adding that the money was meant to finance privately and publicly-driven projects in the country.

    He said $1.3 billion was earmarked for private projects, while the public projects got $900 million.

    “Altogether, we are spending $2.2 billion on projects in Nigeria. We have started implementing some projects, while others have not been executed.”

     

  • AfDB offers $700m credit to BoI, NEXIM

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has given $700 million credit to the Bank of Industry (BoI) and NEXIM Bank of Nigeria.

    TheAfDB credits are sovereign-guaranteed (Federal Government) multi-tranche lines of credit (LoCs) of USD $500 million to BoI and of USD $200 million to NEXIM.

    The agreements for the LoCs were signed yesterday in Abuja between the officials of the BoI and NEXIM as well as the officials of the AfDB. At the ceremony, it was disclosed that the lines of credits will be extended to support export-oriented small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) modernisation and expansion in Nigeria.

    The terms of the agreement of the LoCs, it was learnt, “will allow local SMEs to be more competitive, scale up their operations and ultimately create more jobs in Nigeria.”

    The LoCs will also include a technical assistance package to strengthen institutional capacity at both BoI and NEXIM as well as at their SME clients.

    Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony, Dr. Ousmane Dore, AfDB’s Resident Representative in Nigeria said: “This AfDB combined programme will contribute to mobilise significant financial resources for Nigerian export-oriented SMEs, ultimately contributing to economic development, employment opportunities, foreign exchange and regional trade integration.”

    He added that through this integrated financing package, the AfDB will be supporting Nigeria’s efforts towards a more diversified economy away from oil and gas.

    The LoCs will supply multi-sector financing to address the challenges that SMEs face in accessing finance in the country.

    It is believed that by providing these lines of credit, export-oriented SMEs will be able to become more competitive, ensure sustainable growth for their operations and generate employment in the productive sectors.

    NEXIM Managing Director, Mr Robert Orya, said: “NEXIM is looking for important economic development achievements, including approximately 55,000 new jobs for its SMEs’ clients, $1.6 billion in foreign exchange and an overall contribution of almost seven per cent to non-oil exports, including a 10 per cent share in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) exports.”

    This facility, he noted, “will provide a great opportunity for NEXIM to make available concessional long-term funding in pursuance of its strategic objectives of enhancing value-added exports and bolstering the capacity of SMEs for job creation and foreign exchange earnings.”

    Managing Director, Ms. Evelyn Oputu, said: “The AfDB’s credit is likely to generate significant additional lending to our export-oriented SMEs client at a time when it is sometimes difficult for commercial banks to finance this important sector of the economy.”

  • How Nigeria can sustain growth, by AfDB

    Nigeria needs a stable environment to sustain its economic growth, the Country’s Representative, African Development Fund (AfDB), Mr Ousmane Dore, has said. Speaking during a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, Dore said a stable macro economic environment is what the country needs to move forward.

    He said: “I think the Nigerian government can do is to have a degree of macro economic environment, that is stable and sound in place to encourage growth of investments.”

    He said the government needs to put in place fiscal monitoring policies in place to aid economic growth, advising that efforts must be made not to go back to a more volatile economy of the 70s and 80s.

    Ousmane said the document on Vision 2020, transformation agenda, and national implementation programmes talked about development of private sector, adding that efforts have not been geared towards that direction.

    “ The government policy must ensure that the environment is conducive for this kind of transaction to take place. The government cannot do better if there is no good environment in place. That is talking about regulatory environment such as the institutional reforms that led to the establishment of the ICRC, and the capacity building. All these would help in bringing about good financing”, he added. CBN assures.

     

  • AfDB, IITA to assist farmers in flooded states

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) agricultural-assisted programme is to partner with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to support farmers with early yields varieties in flood-affected states.

    The national Co-ordinator of AfDB Community-based agricultural and rural development programme, Dr Ibrahim Arabi gave this assurance in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

    Arabi, who spoke after a meeting with some government officials and affected farmers, said the measure was to curtail imminent food crisis because of the floods. He said the effort was to intervene in the imminent food crisis in some flood affected states in the zone.

    “The bank has concluded arrangement with the management of IITA to urgently provide and release early yield varieties of maize, cowpea, rice among others to farmers in flood affected states to curtail the imminent food crisis,” Arabi said.

    He said that the short-time varieties to be provided were to replace the already submerged crops whenever the flood subsidised and was expected to be harvested within 60 days to 80 days this year.“Anytime from now, when the flood begin to subsidise, farmers should start planting the seeds because we still have two months or more of rain season in some parts of the country and that period would enable them grow the crops,” he said.

    Arabi, who is the Zonal Director, North-East, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that among the beneficiary states were Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kwara and Kaduna. He also said there was arrangement to extend the provision of the seeds to other affected states.The director expressed shock on the level of devastation caused by the flood, especially on farms and urged the federal and state governments to sit and find a lasting solution to the disaster.

  • AfDB’s assets in Nigeria hit $1.5b

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has put the total value of its portfolios in Nigeria at about $1.5 billion. The bank is also adopting measures to channel more funds into infrastructural development in the country.

    The bank said the portfolios cover loans earmarked for core critical economic projects, direct investment by way of holding equities, and credit extended to financial institutions among others.

    Speaking to The Nation, the AfDB’s country representative in Nigeria, Dr Ousmane Dore, said the portfolios cover projects that have been approved in the private and public sector.

    Dore said disbursement of funds took effect from December last year to ensure speedy execution of the projects.

    He said efforts were on to provide funds for projects that are yet to receive the institution attention.

    The development, he said, is in line with the bank’s mandates to identify and execute projects that are of critical importance to the economy of member states of which Nigeria is one.

    There are specific and general projects to be financed in the country, depending on the rankings given to them, he said.

    Water supply, agriculture, health, education, roads among others are some of the public projects identified by the bank, he said, adding that the private sector projects border on technical assistance and infrastructure.

    Giving a breakdown of the projects, Dore said $634.6 million was earmarked for the private sector and public sector, $699.5 million.

    Dore said private sector projects include lines of credit (LOC) to financial institutions, direct investments by way of holding in equities, and public/private partnership (PPP) initiatives.

    The bank has extended lines of credits of $304.4 to financial institutions in Nigeria, direct investments of $32 million and $69.2 million for public/private partnership projects.

    He said $57 million was earmarked for various agricultural projects, $236.2 million for infrastructural projects such as water supply, sanitation programmes, economic and power sector initiatives. $30 million was also voted for skills acquisition and vocational education among other projects under public sector.

    Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kogi, Plateau, Kwara, Adamawa, Gombe, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, Taraba, Cross River and Rivers states, among others are beneficiaries of the bank’s funds.

    He said the bank is yet to determine whether about 10 states would be among the beneficiaries of the loans programme.

    On disbursement of funds, he said the states had not received the total loans earmarked for them.

    Dore said $82.1 million out of $493.4 million earmarked for projects have been disbursed, representing a difference of 16.7 per cent.

    The bank, he said, is shifting its operations to employment generation, adding that the lender intends to create jobs through the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

    “We have set up loans for capacity building in many countries including Nigeria. We intend to provide loans for the SMEs, and we want to channel the loans through Bank of Industry and Nigerian Export Bank of Nigeria to ensure accessibility. This is one way of reducing unemployment and growing the economy,” he said.