Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolaji Akinyemi, has cautioned Chief Bola Tinubu’s administration to exercise caution with Chinese loans.
Speaking during Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, Akinyemi advised against repeating past mistakes made by previous administrations regarding foreign debt.
Akinyemi emphasised the importance of Nigeria fulfilling its loan obligations to China and other creditor nations, warning that defaulting could harm the country’s international standing.
He stated, “Of course, we should be careful but don’t isolate the debt to China. There are also debts (loans) we owe the United States, there are also debts we owe even some of the medium-power countries.
“What we need to do is to be careful about two things: one, we shouldn’t default on that debt. A month before this African-Chinese Summit, Nigerian Sovereign Goods were being impounded all around the world at the instigation of a Chinese company.
“So, China is not going to serve us anything on global butter; we have to be careful that we fulfill our part of the bargain, not only to China but with all the other countries that we may be doing deals, it will impede on our status, our pride, our sovereign goods to be seized because we are defaulting from fulfilling our part of the agreements,” he added.
Nigeria owes significant debts to China, France, Japan, India, and Germany, with China being the largest creditor.
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According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria owes China approximately $4 billion, which is about 84% of its $5 billion foreign debt. Most of these loans are directed toward critical infrastructure projects, including railways, highways, and power plants.
However, analysts warn that this debt burden poses challenges for Nigeria’s economy, particularly given its reliance on oil revenue. #loans
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