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Nigeria/Indonesia trade volume rose to $2.46 billion in 2021 as both look to better relations

Published

2 years ago

April 27, 2022

Indonesia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Usra Harahap has disclosed that bilateral trade volume between Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria and Indonesia rose to $2.46 billion in 2021.

Amb. Usra Harahap, made the claim while briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

“In 2016 it reached 1.59 billion dollars and in 2021 it increased to 2.46 billion dollars. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, however, there has been a drastic decline from 2.34 billion dollars in 2019 to 1.2 billion in 2020. The trade volume increased significantly in 2021 with Indonesia recording a deficit trade balance with increasing imports from Nigeria.” Harahap said.

“Indonesia’s main exports to Nigeria are clothing, food, paper products, pharmaceuticals, electronics, plastics, soaps, and lubricating oils.

“Meanwhile, Indonesia’s main imports from Nigeria are petroleum products, cotton, cocoa, and hides and shin,’’ he added.

The Ambassador further said that Indonesia’s main economic focus is improving economic relations with Nigeria, citing efforts made to introduce, promote and boost the bilateral economic relations of the two countries, as 25 Indonesia companies now invest in Nigeria.

“Our main focus is on the economic relations; we have made lots of effort to introduce, promote, as well as improve the bilateral economic relations of the two countries. Every year we organise Nigerian Businessmen to come to the Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) and this year it will be held in October 2022.”

Nigeria is Indonesia’s second-largest trade partner in Africa after South Africa, in 2011 the trade value reached US$2.09 billion accounting for 21.66 percent of Indonesia’s total trade with Africa. In 2013, the bilateral trade volume between the countries hit $2.2 billion.

The diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Nigeria began in 1965 by the opening of the Indonesian Embassy in Lagos, as well as the Nigerian Embassy in Jakarta, which opened in 1976.

Related Topics:Featured Indonesia Nigeria

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Nigeria wants $2.25 billion World Bank loan

Published

22 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Wale Edun, has revealed that the country is seeking up to $2.25 billion in World Bank loans and expects the bank’s board to approve the request in June.

The move was announced in a statement following the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C as the country also aims to issue diaspora bonds later this year to attract much-need foreign exchange into the country.

The World Bank loans would include $1.5 billion for development policy and $750 million for program-for-results, the statement said. It also said that the bank would meet in June to decide whether to approve the plan in its entirety.

The multilateral body is yet to comment on the revelation at press time.

Nigeria one of Africa’s biggest oil producers has struggled lately mainly over industrial-scale crude oil theft, and troubles getting foreign currency, which caused its naira currency to drop to all-time lows against the U.S. dollar. It has since recovered, though.

Already, the country is on record levels of debt, high unemployment, and large amounts of money from the central bank. However, Edun has insisted that the government had cut the money it borrowed from the central bank in half.

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Ghana’s finance minister anticipates debt restructuring MoU with lenders

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ghana’s Finance Minister has announced that the country’s two main creditors will send him a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a restructuring deal in May, signifying a major progress in the country’s debt reform.

Once the MoU is signed, it will make public the deal that was made in January to restructure $5.4 billion in loans with its official creditors, such as China and France.

The restructuring is a big step toward Ghana getting rid of its debt as it works to get out of the worst economic crisis in a generation. It should also allow the country to get more money from its $3 billion IMF program.

Mohammed Amin Adam said he was sure the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank would work together at the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. In June, the Monetary Fund’s executive board will agree to review its staff-level deal.

From 2023 to 2028, Ghana’s national debt to gross domestic product level was supposed to go down by 15%. This guess says that the number will have gone down every year for six years, ending at 69.96% in 2028.

Ghana didn’t pay back most of its foreign loans in December 2022 because it became too expensive to do so. But now it needs to work out a deal with private holders of about $13 billion in foreign bonds. It has also changed most of its domestic debt.