The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has disclosed that China is willing to lend Nigeria more money and invest in the country’s infrastructure.
The Federal Government has clarified that it is not seeking debt forgiveness from China, despite ongoing discussions about debt relief at international forums. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, Beijing is open to extending further loans and making more investments in Nigeria’s economy.
Amb. Tuggar disclosed this while speaking with Channels Television on Sunday, adding that Nigeria was not among the critically indebted countries, hence it was not discussing debt forgiveness with its major lender, China.
According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s external debt stock as of March 2024 was N56trn ($42bn) while domestic debt stood at N65trn ($46.29).
When asked if Nigeria was negotiating debt relief with China following President Bola Tinubu’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the minister said that was not discussed. Tuggar said China was even willing to lend Nigeria more money and invest more in the country’s economy.
“No, that is not what we are discussing with China. And when it comes to the issue of debt, look at the debt-to-GDP ratio of Nigeria, we are not even among the critically indebted nations.
“When you talk about the debt of a developing country, Nigeria is not in that sort of precarious situation. As a matter of fact, China is prepared to lend more, China is prepared to invest more in Nigeria in terms of infrastructure development and other things,” he said.
Tuggar added that Nigeria made presentations at the United Nations, not only for self-interest, adding that Nigeria also speaks for Africa, the global South, and the developing countries.
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As earlier reported by NaijaTimesUSA, at the recent 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, President Tinubu who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, pushed for reform of the international financial system to include “comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development”.
However, Tuggar noted that debt forgiveness is a gradual process and has not yet been achieved at recent UNGA sessions.
Tuggar said, “Under President Obasanjo, we benefited from debt forgiveness. It’s a process; it’s not just an event, it takes time but you have to be there, you have to be present, and then these things happen, they don’t happen overnight.
“The effect that we felt the last time we had debt forgiveness did not just happen with one UNGA.”
