Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, ranked among the top 10 debtors on the list of the International Finance Corporation in fiscal year 2023.
IFC disclosed this in its full-year financial report for 2023, obtained from its website by The PUNCH.
Nigeria appeared in the segment of the financial report titled ‘IFC’s largest country exposure’ with about $2.02bn, ranking number nine among 10 countries which include South Africa, India and Brazil.
According to the report, IFC’s total exposure to the countries in the review financial year stood at about $34.94bn.
A breakdown of lending to the high-level borrowing countries showed that South Africa secured about $3.23bn, ranking fifth on the chart while India led the pack with about $ 7.28bn followed by Brazil, $5.6bn, Turkey, $4.65bn and China, $3.23bn.
Other premium debtor nations on the list are Colombia, $2.35bn, Vietnam,$2.19bn, Indonesia,$2.17bn and Romania, $1.73bn.
The Debt Management Office disclosed in September that Nigeria’s total public debt hit N87.38tn at the end of the second quarter of 2023.
The figure represents an increase of 75.29 per cent or N37.53tn compared to N49.85tn recorded at the end of March 2023.
The DMO said the debt includes the N22.71tn Ways and Means Advances of the Central Bank of Nigeria to the Federal Government.
The DMO stated, “Nigeria’s total public debt stock as at June 30, 2023, was N87.38tn ($113.42bn). It comprises the total domestic and external debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the thirty-six states, and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The major addition to the Public Debt Stock was the inclusion of the N22.712tn securitized FGN’s Ways and Means Advances.”
In FY23, IFC invested $43.7 billion in long-term and short-term finance, including over $15 billion mobilized from other investors.
By Industry, IFC’s lending to Financial Markets stood at $8.60bn representing 51.58 per cent of total lending in the review period while Infrastructure gulped about $2.45bn or 14.67 per cent and Manufacturing, $1.52bn or 9.11 per cent.
The other sectors that enjoyed the facilities of the Fund in 2023 were Agribusiness & Forestry, $1.1bn representing 6.60 per cent, Funds, $ 990m or 5.94 per cent, Tourism, Retail & Property, $ 765m or 4.59 per cent, Telecommunications & Information Technology, $ 747m representing 4.48 per cent, Health & Education, $ 505m or 3.03 per cent and Natural Resources, $ 2m or 0.01 per cent.
