Nigeria borrows more from China, debt hits $3.26bn

Nigeria’s borrowing from the Exim Bank of China rose by $90 million last year, the latest data from the Debt Management Office have shown.

The country’s total borrowing from China increased to $3.26 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020 from $3.17 billion at the end of 2019, according to the DMO data.

Chinese loans account for 9.78 percent of Nigeria’s total external debt stock, which stood at $33.35 billion in December, up from $27.67 billion a year earlier.

Other countries to which Nigeria is indebted are France (Agence Francaise Development), Japan (Japan International Cooperation Agency), India (Exim Bank of India) and Germany (Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbua), according to the debt office.

Loans from France increased to $493.71m from $361.75m while Japanese loans rose to $80.20m from $76.13m.

The country’s borrowing from India rose to $37m from $32.14m while loans from Germany fell to $184.32 from $202.27 million