President Bola Tinubu has sent a request to the House of Representatives, seeking approval to access external capital of $2.347billion.
This comprised of new external borrowing of N1.843 trillion, at the budget exchange rate of $1.00/N1,500.00) in the 2025 Appropriation Act for the part-financing of the budget deficit and refinancing of $1.118billion Eurobonds.
This is to be accessed through any of the following option(s) in the International Capital Market (ICM): Issuance of Eurobonds, Loan Syndications, Bridge Finance Facility from Bookrunners and Direct Borrowing from International Financial Institutions.
Tinubu, in a letter to Speaker Abbas Tajudeen read at plenary on Tuesday, also sought the resolution of the House to approve the issue of a stand-alone debut Sovereign Sukuk of up to $500m in the ICM with or without credit enhancement (Guarantee).
Explaining the implementation of new external borrowings in the 2025 Appropriation Act, Tinubu said: “the House may wish to note that 2025 Appropriation Act provides for N9,276,348,934,935.79 as New Borrowings to part-finance the 2025 Budget Deficit, of which #1,843,669,786,987.16 (equivalent of about USD1,229,113,000.00 at the Budget Exchange Rate of USD1.00/N1,500.00).
“The House of Representatives is kindly invited to issue its Resolution allowing the Government to raise the amount through any of the following options: Issuance of Eurobonds, Bridge Finance Facility from Bookrunners, Loan Syndication and Direct Borrowing from International Financial Institutions.
“The House of Representatives may wish to note that Eurobonds of USD1,118,352,000.00 (7.625% US$1.118BN NOV 2025) issued in the ICM on November 21, 2018, with an original tenor of 7 years, will mature on November 21, 2025.
“The plan is to refinance the maturing Eurobonds through issuance of Eurobonds, Bridge Finance Facility from Bookrunners, Loan Syndication, or Direct Borrowing from International Financial Institutions, if necessary to avoid default.
“This is a standard practice in debt capital markets, including the ICM. The proposal is for the House of Representatives to issue its Resolution authorising the FGN to refinance the Eurobonds, accordingly.
“Based on the presentations in Paragraphs 2 and 3, the aggregate amount proposed to be raised in the ICM either through Issuance of Eurobonds, Bridge Finance Facility from Bookrunners, Loan Syndication and Direct Borrowing from International Financial Institutions or combination of the options for which Resolution of the House of Representatives is being sought is USD2,347,465,000.00.
Nigeria’s public debt as of March 31, 2025 was approximately ₦149.39 trillion (around $97.24 billion USD), according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) and Finance in Africa. This total debt is comprised of both domestic and external debt, with domestic debt making up slightly over half of the total at ₦78.76 trillion ($51.26 billion) and external debt at ₦70.63 trillion ($45.98 billion).
