*File photograph of Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, AfDB President (left) in a handshake with Nigeria President, Buhari
Few days after the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr. Akinwumi Adesina visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House Abuja over the issues bordering on his reelection bid as well as the whistleblowers who do not want him back at AfDB, the Board of Directors of the bank has approved a $288.5 million loan to help Nigeria tackle the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
We gathered from those who should know that the loan is expected to bolster the federal government’s plans to improve surveillance and response to COVID-19 emergencies, ease the impact on workers and businesses and strengthen the social protection system. Nigeria had in April secured $3.4 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in emergency financial assistance under the fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to support the federal government’s efforts in addressing the severe economic impact of the COVID-19 economic shock and the drastic fall in oil prices.
A statement from the AfDB at the weekend said Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and the continent’s largest oil producer, is facing twin crises – a health epidemic caused by COVID-19, and an economic crunch largely occasioned by a global oil price plunge. Nigeria as at the time of this report according to the NCDC has 11, 844 positive cases of COVID-19, 3696 patients have been discharged while 333 fatalities have so far been recorded.
