Nigerian govt pays $548.67m to service railway debt in seven years

The external debt service payments report by the Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that Nigeria’s railway-related debts gulped $548.67 million between 2016 and 2022.

In 2016, $19.99 million was spent to service railway debts, $21.53 million was disbursed in 2017, and the next year, the Federal Government expended $63.92 million.

The debt service gulped $74.25 million in 2019, rising to $121 million in 2020. The amount continued on an upward path, gulping $122.92 million in 2021, but in the first quarter and third quarter of 2022, $125.06 million was spent on servicing railway debts in 2022.

Nigeria’s railway debts are tied to Chinese infrastructure loan. Data showed that the Federal Government didn’t service the debt in the second quarter last year. Meanwhile, the DMO is yet to release 2022 fourth quarter figure as at the time of filing this report.

Breakdown of railway debt service

Between January to December 2016, the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulped $11.37 million and $8.26 million respectively.

In 2017, Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project accounted for $12.14 million and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulped $9.39 million.

Read also:Nigeria to incur more debt as govt mulls Portuguese, Turkish loans for railway projects

The following year, FG spent $50.81 million to service debt on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), $2.82 million on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) and $10.92 million on the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project.

During the 2019 period, $49.91 million was disbursed to service the debt on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) took $12.68 million and $11.66 million went to the debt on Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project.

In 2020, $48.97 million was spent on Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), $21.28 million on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section), and $50.75 million on the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project.

The next year, $47.96 million went to the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project accounted for $50.88 million, while the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) gulped $24.08 million.

According to the DMO, in the first quarter of 2022, about $24.55 million was spent to service the debt on the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project, $23.58 million on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), and $13.60 million on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section).

The figure increased slightly in the third quarter, with the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulping $24.39 million, Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section) gulped $23.41 million, and the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) accounted for $14.95 million.

Meanwhile, supply of rolling stocks and depot equipment for the Abuja light rail project cost the country $580,889.

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