Coronavirus: Nigeria Asks $ 6.9 Billion From Donors

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Nigeria is requesting the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) and is asking for $ 6.9 billion. The money is intended to finance the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the fall in crude oil prices. Nigeria, Africa's leading oil country, is also the most populous. The money will also go to a $ 1.3 billion fund to improve the health care system.

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Nigeria is probably not the sick man of Africa but it is certainly a giant with feet of clay. The continent's leading oil producer, it depends on this resource to finance its economy and the dizzying fall in crude prices has resulted in a budgetary shock.

To avoid the disaster, Abuja had to reach out to donors. The country requests $ 3.4 billion from the IMF (the entire contribution), $ 2.5 billion from the World Bank and $ 1 billion from the African Development Bank.

These institutions have already announced that they have released emergency credit facilities for low-income countries. The IMF alone has freed up $ 50 billion.

Twenty African countries have already claimed credit lines. In the case of Nigeria, the money will go, in part, to a fund of one billion three hundred million dollars intended to improve the health system.

Despite its difficulties, Abuja has a lot of room for maneuver. The country is one of the least indebted in Africa (40% of its GNP). He can therefore hope to get through the crisis if at least oil prices go up quickly.

► Read also: In Africa, countries are gradually adapting to the coronavirus epidemic

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• Nigeria
• Coronavirus
• IMF

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