Nigeria commits US$ 1.39 billion to stem Covid-19 fallout

(3 minutes read)

·        Nigeria plans to create a US$ 1.39 billion coronavirus fund
to beef up its healthcare infrastructure to respond to the increasing
number of Covid-19 cases.

·        Nigeria is hoping to get some financing from the IMF, which
has committed US $50 billion from its emergency financing facilities
to stem the economic backlash of the Covid-

Nigeria plans to create a US$ 1.39 billion coronavirus fund to beef up
its healthcare infrastructure to respond to the increasing number of
Covid-19 cases.  The Nigerian government will take loans from various
special government accounts as also borrow from organizations like
World Bank, International Monetary Fund etc to  bridge the resource
gap.

Nigeria has reported 209 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which is the
second largest number in Africa, after South Africa. The number of
death is four. Some states in Nigeria  such as Lagos, Ogun and the
capital territory of Abuja have declared lockdown to combat the spread
of the disease. That is continuing even now. There is some uncertainty
when this would be lifted, though the losses due to shut down are
considerable.

Nigeria is hoping to get some financing from the IMF, which has
committed US $50 billion from its emergency financing facilities to
stem the economic backlash of the Covid-19. Similarly, the World Bank
has committed US$ 14 billion as an economic package to bail out
countries. So far, it is reliably learnt that over 80 countries are
trying to get a pie from these resources, which add up to US$ 64
billion.

In addition to these resources, as reported by www.trendsnafrica.com,
Nigerian government is also trying to raise 120 billion naira from the
private sector. This will be mostly used for sourcing equipment and
infrastructure to fight the pandemic. The proposed fund would need the
approval of the National Assembly. Since the Assembly is in recess
on account of the pandemic, the government may consider passage of a
bill to put in place the borrowing plan at the earliest. The bill,
later, can be passed by the national Assembly.