Business
Nigerian govt gives reasons for $1.2bn loan from Brazil
The Federal Government has explained that the $1.2 billion to be borrowed from Brazil will help boost Nigeria’s agricultural sector under what it called the Green Imperative Project (GIP).
Senior Special Adviser to the President on Agriculture, Andrew Kwasari, told journalists in Abuja on Wednesday that the loan will come from the Deutsche Bank and Development Bank of Brazil, while it would be reinsured by the Islamic Development Bank and Islamic Corporation of Insurance for Export Credit.
“The Green Imperative is an agricultural bilateral project between Nigeria and the government of Brazil. This project has been in the making and we have reached a point where we are completely ready for a take-off. The Green Imperative will address two issues with agricultural mechanisation in Nigeria,” he said.
“This project is a private sector driven one. So all the service centres will be operated by private entrepreneurs and they will have the responsibility of servicing the loan.”
Read also: Nigeria to access $1.1billion Brazil loan to boost agriculture
“the loan will provide mechanisation and agro-processing. And these two work hand-in-hand in what we call service centres. These service centres will be created across the country to complement and support primary production through mechanisation and value addition through agro processing.”
Kwasari added, “The Green Imperative is a borrowing programme that will inject foreign direct investment of €995m, that is $1.2bn.
“This has been structured financially to allow the government use bilateral negotiation and arrive at a financing that is below three per cent per annum interest rate and a gestation period of about 15 years to be paid.”
He added, ” the loan was structured with a monitoring policy with the Central Bank of Nigeria to allow the lending of the facility to entrepreneurs in naira.”
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