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Nigeria's President Seeks Debt Relief, Reforms at UNGA

Published

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 11:39 AM

Written by Love Patience Tarimoboere

Nigeria's President Seeks Debt Relief, Reforms at UNGA

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged global leaders to prioritize debt forgiveness for Nigeria and other developing nations during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York .

In a national statement delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima on September 24, 2024, Tinubu emphasized the need for relief from multilateral financial institutions and creditors.

He stressed that Global South nations face significant economic challenges due to their substantial debt burdens, hindering meaningful economic progress ¹.

Tinubu's appeal comes as Nigeria continues to navigate its debt management. The country has previously secured loans from international creditors, including a $13.1 million loan from the Italian government in 1964 .

The Debt Management Office has been working towards debt reduction, with the federal government recently achieving a major milestone in this effort .

His call for debt relief and reforms came amisdt the pressing economic challenges these nations face.

While addressing the world leaders, Tinubu stated;

“We must ensure that any reform of the international financial system includes comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development”.

“Countries of the global South cannot make meaningful economic progress without special concessions and a review of their current debt burden”.

The President also called out for the recovery of funds lost through corruption and illicit financial flows.

Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, through the office of the Vice president highlighted to the UN how the global debt crisis is crippling countries ability to address the needs of their citizens.

He also pointed out that trade barriers and protectionist policies are shattering nations aspirations, while unchecked competition is stifling motivation and obstructing global investment opportunities.

The Debt Management Office, in its Q1 2024 report revealed that Nigeria’s total domestic and external debts amounted to ₦121.67 trillion ($91.46 billion).

With state governments seeing a 122% increase in external debt servicing in the first half of 2024, the economic strain has been severe, with Kaduna and Lagos states paying the highest servicing costs.

This increase was driven by escalating borrowing costs due to currency depreciation, which has severely affected state-level spending and fiscal stability.

The president urged international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets, noting that the return of such funds to their countries of origin is essential under the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

“Therefore, the international community must promote practical measures to strengthen international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets and to eradicate safe havens that facilitate illicit flows of funds from developing countries to the developed economies”.

”From last year’s summit, and indeed from previous years, we have carried over the numerous challenges of terrorism, armed conflict, inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, human rights abuses, food crises, hunger, irregular migration, piracy, global pandemics, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, grinding debt burden, climate change, and a host of other vexations”.

“The continued manifestation of these challenges testifies to our failings rather than to any lofty achievements on our part. Billions of dollars are being committed to the prosecution of wars and the fanning of the embers of conflict”.

Tinubu in conclusion, urged the UN to accelerate the momentum toward Security Council reform, pointing out that some permanent members had expressed tentative support.

He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to cooperation, stressing that only through collective action can the world hope to resolve the existential challenges it’s currently dealing with.

Edited By: Chinedu Eze

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Nigeria's President Seeks Debt Relief, Reforms at UNGA

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged global leaders to prioritize debt forgiveness for Nigeria and other developing nations during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York .

In a national statement delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima on September 24, 2024, Tinubu emphasized the need for relief from multilateral financial institutions and creditors.

He stressed that Global South nations face significant economic challenges due to their substantial debt burdens, hindering meaningful economic progress ¹.

Tinubu's appeal comes as Nigeria continues to navigate its debt management. The country has previously secured loans from international creditors, including a $13.1 million loan from the Italian government in 1964 .

The Debt Management Office has been working towards debt reduction, with the federal government recently achieving a major milestone in this effort .

His call for debt relief and reforms came amisdt the pressing economic challenges these nations face.

While addressing the world leaders, Tinubu stated;

“We must ensure that any reform of the international financial system includes comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development”.

“Countries of the global South cannot make meaningful economic progress without special concessions and a review of their current debt burden”.

The President also called out for the recovery of funds lost through corruption and illicit financial flows.

Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, through the office of the Vice president highlighted to the UN how the global debt crisis is crippling countries ability to address the needs of their citizens.

He also pointed out that trade barriers and protectionist policies are shattering nations aspirations, while unchecked competition is stifling motivation and obstructing global investment opportunities.

The Debt Management Office, in its Q1 2024 report revealed that Nigeria’s total domestic and external debts amounted to ₦121.67 trillion ($91.46 billion).

With state governments seeing a 122% increase in external debt servicing in the first half of 2024, the economic strain has been severe, with Kaduna and Lagos states paying the highest servicing costs.

This increase was driven by escalating borrowing costs due to currency depreciation, which has severely affected state-level spending and fiscal stability.

The president urged international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets, noting that the return of such funds to their countries of origin is essential under the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

“Therefore, the international community must promote practical measures to strengthen international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets and to eradicate safe havens that facilitate illicit flows of funds from developing countries to the developed economies”.

“The continued manifestation of these challenges testifies to our failings rather than to any lofty achievements on our part. Billions of dollars are being committed to the prosecution of wars and the fanning of the embers of conflict”.

Tinubu in conclusion, urged the UN to accelerate the momentum toward Security Council reform, pointing out that some permanent members had expressed tentative support.

He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to cooperation, stressing that only through collective action can the world hope to resolve the existential challenges it’s currently dealing with.

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