The Federal Government says it has released N460 billion of the N2.1 trillion capital expenditure for 2018 budget implementation.
The disclosure was made by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma in Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday after meeting with a delegation of Afreximbank officials on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
Udoma told journalists that more money will be released if the National Assembly approves the executives request for another round of.
According to the Budget Minister, “the amount of capital releases as of today is N460 billion. We just need a resolution of the National Assembly on the Borrowing Plan then we can fund it even more. We are spending money on N-Power, School feeding, Trader Moni. We are conscious to meet the needs of the vulnerable.”
On her part, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said that after her meeting with Afreximbank team, there is an understanding that Nigeria may likely increase its shareholding in the bank because of the value such increased shareholding holds for Nigeria.
Zainab Ahmed said, “part of what we discussed is the possibility of increasing our shareholding and we discussed some of the projects and programmes that Afrexim is supporting in Nigeria. Afrexim has a very large portfolio in Nigeria. About 40 percent of the bank’s portfolio is in Nigeria with support to the government but largely to the private sector. We have the need to increase our shareholding in the bank because there is a lot of value that we are getting from Afrexim Bank” she said.
The finance minister said they also discussed the setting up of a medical park in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) “which is a discussion that has been going on for quite a long time. There was also a discussion on the establishment of Quality Assurance Centres in Ogun and other parts of the country. We also discussed the setting up of Industrial Parks in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in three Centres- Lekki, Kano and one in Kaduna” Zainab said.
Commenting on Nigeria’s delay in signing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Ahmed maintained that “Trade Agreements are not things that the government will just enter into without due consultations with stakeholders in the private sector. We need to discuss with the private sector and agree with operators in that sector before we join. The discussions have been going on but we have not reached a consensus. We need to reach a consensus before we agree to sign.”
President of the Afreximbank, Dr. Benedict Oramah said, “Nigeria is still a major shareholder in the bank, although of recent, it has fallen back in terms of its relative position. That is why we have had this discussions with the Minister of Finance to see how Nigeria could return to the position it was.”
Asked to give details of Nigerian government’s current holding, Dr. Oramah said, “the equity holding of Nigeria is a Nigerian affair. In terms of Nigerian government, it is number three today. But they have always been number one or number two in the past. Egypt and Zimbabwe are now number one and two respectively.”
He said Afreximbank has “gotten assurances that the government would look at it and we hope that Nigeria’s holdings would come to the levels that would reflect the size of the Nigerian economy.”
In terms of the bank’s business in Nigeria, Oramah said Afreximbank has an exposure of more than $3. 2 billion. “We are supporting virtually all the banks in Nigeria in terms of lines of credit to be able to do export and import as well as in terms of supporting SMEs. We are also supporting many private businesses. We are into manufacturing and other activities. Beyond that we are also pursuing what I would call impacting initiatives.”
