The Nigerian Senate has approved the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to further borrow the sum of $8.3 billion.
The upper legislative chamber during plenary on Thursday also separately approved the borrowing of €490 million loan request of Mr Buhari.
The total amount is part of the 2018 – 2020 external borrowing (rolling) plan of the federal government.
Mr Buhari while making the request in May said the loan would enable projects listed under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing Plan to be financed through sovereign loans from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), French Development Agency (AFD), Islamic Development Bank, China EXIMBank, China Development Bank, European Investment Bank, European ECA, KfW, lPEX, AFC, India EximBank and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The funds were approved after lawmakers adopted the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts presented by the chairman of the committee, Clifford Ordia, who noted that the projects are geared towards the realisation of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan that cut across key sectors such as Infrastructure, Health, Agriculture and Food Security, Energy, Education and Human Capital Development and COVID 19 Response efforts in the six geo-political zones of the country.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan presided over plenary.
