RipplesMetrics: In chart, Nigeria’s debt to China; amount paid, left to pay and projects

Last Monday, the Debt Management Office (DMO) revealed that Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N38.005 trillion as at September 30, 2021.

DMO in a document published on its website revealed that the debt comprises N22.43 trillion domestic debt while N15.57 trillion was external.

One of the significant areas of interest for many Nigerians is the loan from China.

Although details of collateral issues in the agreements were not revealed, DMO data show that in the last 15 years, Nigeria has approached China for $4.18 billion.

These loans are tied to 15 projects which include airport expansion, development of agriculture, satellite launch and water supply, among others.

DMO data also indicated that Nigeria had repaid N451.17 billion($1.1bn), leaving a balance of $3.60 billion (N1.47 trillion) as at September 30, 2021.

See breakdown of China loan

According to DMO documents, the most recent loans from China were agreed on 27 December, 2019.

The loans agreed on were for the expansion of four airport terminal expansion projects and Nigeria’s ICT infrastructure backbone project.

Read also: RipplesMetrics: Data show Buhari spent N4trn on fuel subsidy after calling policy fraud

For airport expansion, Nigeria agreed $183.62 million (N77.2 billion) with a tenor of 20 years repayment plan and will mature on 21 September 2039.

The other agreement was for $208.90 million (N87.9 billion), to be repaid in full on 21 September, 2039.

The interest rate for the loans is 2.75% and Nigeria will start repayment from 2026.

The document also showed Nigerian government has repaid in full $200 million loan collected in 2010 for Nigerian Communications Satellite. The total interest paid is $40 million.

Further data analysis of the other loans is contained in the screenshot below.

Future loans

The Federal Government plans to take fresh loans amounting to about N15 trillion in the next three years.

Breakdown from the approved Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) shows the federal government will be borrowing N4.893 trillion (2022), N4.75 trillion (2023) and N5.356 trillion (2024).

The estimated loans are evenly split between domestic and external sources.

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