Data obtained from the Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that the country spent $402.74m on servicing bilateral loans in 18 months from the end of 2019 to June 30, 2021.
It also revealed that Nigeria’s debt to China, France, Japan, India, and Germany rose to $4.26bn from $3.85bn within the same period.
As of December 31, 2019, Nigeria owed $3.18bn to the Exim Bank of China, $76.13m to France’s Agence Francaise Development, $361.75m to Japan International Cooperation Agency, $32.14m to the Exim Bank of India, and $202.27m to Germany’s Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbua.
The bilateral loans accounted for 13.89 percent of the country’s total external debt of $27.67bn as of the first quarter of 2020 while a total of $94.99m was paid as debt service for bilateral loans in Q1 2020, with China and India $94.61m and $382,310 respectively. Japan, France, and Germany got nothing within this period.
The bilateral loans increased by $110m to $3.95bn on June 30, 2020, accounting for 12.54 percent of the total external debt of $31.48bn while the country spent $14.26m servicing the bilateral loans in Q2 2020, with France and Germany getting $14.22m and $44,340 respectively.
The debt owed to the five countries rose by $130m in Q3 to $4.08bn on September 30, 2020, making up 12.74 percent of the total external debt of $31.99bn and the cost of servicing bilateral loans stood at $114.6m in Q3, with China, India, and Germany getting $100.86m, $412,220 and $13.32m respectively.
Nigeria’s total indebtedness to these countries fell slightly by $2m to $4.06bn at the end of 2020, accounting for 12.17 percent of the total external debt of $33.35bn as of December 2020 while the country incurred a debt service cost of $34.34m in Q4, with China, France, and Germany receiving $20,000, $21.14m and $13.19m respectively.
The bilateral loans rose by $120m in the first three months of this year to $4.18bn, accounting for 12.73 percent of the total external debt of $32.86bn while a total of $106.33m was paid as debt service for bilateral loans in Q1 2021, with China and India receiving $102.2m and $4.13m.
The total debt owed to the five countries increased further to $4.25bn as of June 30, 2021, with China having $3.48bn; Japan, $74.77m; France, $482.15m; India, $34.59m; and Germany, $174.39m.
Bilateral loans accounted for 12.70 percent of the country’s total external debt of $33.47bn at the end of June, while it spent $38.22m servicing the loans in Q2 2021.
 has revealed that the country spent $402.74m on servicing bilateral loans from the end of 2019 to June 30, 2021.){kind=link}