The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has confirmed an initial disbursement of $2.25 billion out of the $3.3 billion crude oil prepayment facility recently approved for Nigeria.
Though the federal government received the $2.25 billion foreign exchange (FX) facility since last December, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, had while speaking to ARISE News Channel, stated that it was in the position of Afreximbank to announce the disbursement at the appropriate time.
The long-awaited credit support seeks to ameliorate the acute FX shortage in the country which has constrained economic activities and doused investors’ confidence.
Also earlier in December, President Bola Tinubu had assured Nigerians of the commitment of his administration to resolve the FX backlogs through the injection of funds into the market
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) acted as the Local Arranger and Onshore Account Bank for the transaction, which is being sponsored by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
It is expected to ease the foreign exchange illiquidity and stabilise the Nigerian currency market.
A statement by Afreximbank posted on its website on Saturday announced that an initial disbursement of $2.25 million has been made. A second tranche of $1.05 billion is expected to be disbursed subsequently.
