The Nation Newspaper

Tag: China Exim Bank.

  • FG seeks $461.8 loan variation for airport terminals

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a loan variation of $461,795,551.02 for building new airport terminals in the country.

    Minister of State Aviation, Hadi Sirika, stated this on Monday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Aviation to defend his ministry’s 2019 budget proposals.

    The $461.8 million variation, he said, is required in addition to the $500 million loan already received from the China Exim Bank.

    The minister explained that the variation became necessary to deal with some challenges in the building of the terminals.

    According to him: “there are challenges with the new terminals being built with the $500 million loan from the China Exim Bank.”

    He listed some of the challenges to include change in the structural design of the airports, foundation footing and escalators.

    Sirika also listed the need to make provisions for the biggest modern aircraft, change in departure and arrival floors to rhyme with railway station, provision of adequate power supply and relocation of control tower and fire service station, as other challenges.

    He said: “The challenges have resulted in the need for variation and additional works to the tune of $461,795, 551.02, which has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).”

    The minister told the committee that the China Exim Bank had indicated willingness to consider funding additional works.

    He said he had written to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to provide for the sum of $73.9 million as counterpart fund in 2019 outside the ministry’s proposed budget.

    The Minister said that the airports where work took place already wearing new looks befitting of modern airports.

    He also told the committee that two of the new terminals, in Port Harcourt and Abuja have already been commissioned, while Lagos and Kano will soon be completed.

    Sirika noted that adequate provision had also been made to complete the new terminal buildings in at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

    He sought the support of the National Assembly and other stakeholders to ensure needed equipment for safety and security were provided to meet the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) as outlined by regulatory aviation bodies.

    The minister noted that more bilateral and multilateral air service agreements would be signed for the benefits of or travellers.

    On the 2019 budget, the minister said the sum of N47.5 billion was proposed for Capital Expenditure at the headquarters.

    The amount, he said, would be used to sustain infrastructural renewal at the airports especially re-modeling of projects to upgrade of air navigational equipment, safety and security infrastructure.

    On the implementation of the 2018 budget, the minister said that N26.9 billion was budgeted for the Aviation sub-sector out of which the sum of N3.12 billion representing 11.6 per cent was released to the sector.

    He said that N2.99 billion representing 96 per cent had been expended as at March 15.

    According to him, the sum of N508.8 million was appropriated for overhead expenditure for the whole Ministry of Transport, which includes Aviation, Marine and Land sectors.

    He said that N296.8 million, representing 58.3 per cent was released, while N296.8 million representing 99.9 per cent was expended as at December 2018.

    The minister said the ministry was funded from national budget, while agencies like Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigeria College of Aviation Technology(NCAT) and Accident Investigation Bureau were also funded from Internally Generated Revenue(IGR).

  • FG seeks $6bn Chinese loan for Ibadan-Kano rail line

    The Federal Government has disclosed that it is currently seeking a loan of about $6bn from the China Exim Bank  for the construction of the Ibadan-Kano rail line.

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed this at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The minister also stated that $195m had been approved to secure the waterways and expressed hope that it would help reduce crime in the maritime sector.

    He said, “We are currently in negotiations with the China Exim Bank to get about $6bn to do (rail lines) from Ibadan to Kano. It is a difficult decision.

    “Why is it difficult? The money required is about $8bn to do a double track but the Chinese are insisting that they can’t fund the double track.

    “They are asking us to do a single track and they want it at Minna so that instead of going from Minna to Kaduna, we should go from Minna to Abuja and then join it from Abuja to Kaduna.”

    He added, “But there are those who argue that we should not accept that, rather we should tell them (Chinese) to fund it in segments. This, however, does not make economic sense.”

    Read Also: Nigeria is moving progressively- EU

    On the security of the waterways, Amaechi said, “The Federal Government has approved the sum of $195m…to hire an Israeli company to help train our security personnel to help man our water ways.

    “Currently there are criminal activities in our waterways which has made it that in some parts of the country, people charge what they call war insurance. War insurance means that you go to an area where there is (seems to be) war, but you know that there is no war there.

    “But in such areas criminal activities are taking place in the water ways. So with the approval, after we’ve put the processes in place, we will ensure that there is security on our waters.”

  • Senate approves China Exim Bank’s loan for railway project

    Senate approves China Exim Bank’s loan for railway project

    The Senate on Thursday approved part of the 2016-2018 External Borrowing Plan as it pertained to the Lagos – Kano railway modernization project (Lagos-Ibadan, Segment double truck).

    The upper chamber also endorsed the World Bank supported project on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the North-East region totaling $1.806 billion.

    This followed the submission and consideration of the report of the Senate committee on Local and Foreign Debts on the proposed Federal Government 2016-2018 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan presented by Chairman of the Committee, Senator Shehu Sani.

    Sani, in his report noted that the committee resolved to consider the railway project due to its importance and urgency to fast track the development of critical infrastructures in the country.

    He said rail system plays a pivotal role in socio- economic development, adding that effective railway service in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized in the present millennium

    He explained that the committee while considering aspect of the plan received briefs from officials including Ministers of Transportation, Finance, Director General of the Debt Management Office, Chairman of Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).

    He said the proposed projects to be financed by the China Exim Bank included Lagos-Kano Railway Modernization project (Lagos-Ibadan segment); Lagos-Kano Railway modernization project (Kano-Kaduna segment) and Coastal Railway project (Lagos-Calabar segment).

  • Buhari’s $5.815bn Chinese loan faces hurdles in Senate

    …Summons Amaechi for explanation

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for the National Assembly’s endorsement of $5,815 billion loan suffered setback Tuesday in the Senate.

    The Federal Government planned to raise the loan from China Exim Bank to execute the modernization of Lagos-Kano, Kano-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan and Lagos-Calabar rail lines.

    Following a motion by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), the Senate resolved to invite Minister of Transportation to explain why South East corridor rail line was omitted in the areas covered by the proposed loan.

    The upper chamber however rejected a prayer that urged the Senate to suspend consideration of the loan request pending until correction of the apparent oversight of the eastern parts of the country is made.

    The motion entitled “Outright Omission of Eastern Corridor Rail Line in the request for approval of Federal Government 2016-2015 External Borrowing (Rolling Plan)” was hotly debated on the floor of the Senate.

    Abaribe in his lead debate recalled that on 26th of April, 2017 the Federal Government laid before the National Assembly a request seeking an approval for a loan of $5,851 billion from China Exim Bank to execute the modernization of Lagos-Kano, Kano-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan and Lagos-Calabar rail segment;

    He observed with dismay, that the above sections of the rail line that the loan was being sought for covers only a section of the country, the western corridor or sections;

    The Abia South lawmaker noted that the Eastern section of the rail segment, which has a link between the South Eastern to North Eastern parts of the rail line is completely excluded from the request;

    He further noted that the loan being a Federal Government borrowing would be paid for by all SECTIONS of the country; therefore every section of the country should be taken into consideration;

    He said that he is aware that there is a Railway Master Plan developed by the Ministry of Transport and of which such plan has not being referred to in the current borrowing plan;

    Abaribe also said that he is aware that for the railway projects to have a meaningful impact on the development of the country; it should cover all parts of Nigeria.

    He expressed concern that the complete exclusion of the Eastern section that links the four zones of South-South, South-East, North-Central and North East and the key cities such as Port Harcourt, Aba, Enugu, Makurdi, Lafia, Gudi, Jos, Bauchi and Maiduguri is inexplicable,

    He prayed that Senate to suspend consideration of the loan request of any guise until the correction of this apparent oversight of the eastern parts of the country.

    He also urged that Senate to invite the Minister of Transport to appear and explain the reasons for the exclusion of the Eastern Corridor of Nigeria’s Rail Lines from the proposed loan from China Exim bank.

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who seconded the motion said that the Senate should see injustice done to any section of the country as injustice to all.

    Ekweremadu said that it is on record that the Federal Government had been rehabilitating rail lines in the country with the exception of the rail lines in the South East.

    He noted that the promise of the government that the rail line in the South East would be accommodated in future is doubtful.

    Ekweremadu said that no section of the country should be excluded in development projects.

    But Senator Gbenga Ashafa, (Lagos East) described the information in the motion as “inadequate and inaccurate.”

    Ashafa who is also Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, said that the Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Calabar rail lines covered the areas listed in the motion.

    He said that Onitsha and Aba areas are also covered in the plan of the rail line.

    He urged the Senate to look at the issue dispassionately insisting that the loan should be secured for the development of the country.

    Ashafa added that government is a continuum.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki said that leadership of the National Assembly took up the issue with President Buhari.

    Saraki said that the meeting of the National Assembly leadership with the executive informed the second letter of the President on the issue.

    He said that the second letter of President Buhari specified that every section of the country would be covered by the loan.

    Saraki said that if the report of the Senate committee on Local and Foreign Debts failed to cover the South East, the Senate would resolve how to deal with the loan.

     

  • No plan to sell any asset now, says FG

    No plan to sell any asset now, says FG

    The federal government Tuesday said it has not taken any decision to sell any national asset.

    Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma appealed to those opposed to the planned sale of some national assets to exercise patience with the government “as the government is yet to decide on assets sale in its stimulus package.”

    Udoma made the disclosure in Abuja at the 57th Annual Conference of the  Nigerian Economic Society (NES) where he stated that the idea of selling national assets “is just a proposal within the stimulus package of the federal government to scale up revenue but is yet to be finalised or even agreed on.”

    The budget and national planning minister said government will consult widely and hear views on the cost and benefit of the planned sale before any such decision will be made.

    He said the administration has several packages and plans that will ensure that Nigeria comes out of the current recession soon and stronger. One of such packages he noted is the stimulus plan to borrow from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and the China Exim Bank.

    Udoma said that the stimulus package was being worked upon and was yet to be finalised, adding that to achieve this speedily “we are working to fast track procedures through presidential directives and legislation and I want to emphasis that notwithstanding the current economic challenges we face, we are not discouraged at all and this is a crisis we must not waste.”

    The minister lamented that Nigeria’s foreign reserves had shrunk from $26.51 billion from the second quarter of 2016 to $24.74 billion in September.

    Udoma said that government was working on a programme with the private sector to launch made in Nigeria campaign. He said the intent of the programme was to encourage more production and consumption of made in Nigeria goods and services.

    According him, “we believe that with more patronage Nigerian producers will be encouraged to improve the quality of their products. We should encourage the branding of Nigerian products by self-regulatory industry bodies such as wine makers have in France. Made in Nigeria should become a badge of quality.

    The minister added that “as the quality of our goods and service improve, both local and international demand for them will increase and high local demand would give Nigerian producers the platform to explore the export market.

    He said one of the fastest routes to grow the economy and create jobs for teeming population was by pursuing export-led growth. The Minister said that this strategy holds high promise for adding to our foreign reserves and further stabilising the Naira.

    He urged Nigerians to “see this crisis as an opportunity for us as a country to make those major structural changes needed to change this economy for good. We should use this crisis to implement the reforms needed to unlock the economic potentials of the non-oil and high employment sectors.”