Nigeria to Issue N758bn Bonds to Clear Pension Debts
The Nigerian government has announced plans to issue bonds worth N758bn to clear accumulated pension debts, a move it says will provide long-overdue relief to retirees under the old Defined Benefit Scheme.
Speaking after a Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, explained that the bond issuance, managed by the Debt Management Office, would settle obligations that have accumulated due to periodic wage increases over the years.
“This liability built up to a point where it would not be easy to pay them down on an ongoing basis,” Edun said. “To clean up that critical area and to give people their right—the payment of their pension liabilities as and when due—the government has put in place an approval for the Debt Management Office to raise N758bn to pay down all these liabilities.”
Economic Strategy and Student Housing Initiative
The council also approved a €30m (N46.3bn) concessional financing arrangement from the French Development Agency, aimed at tackling Nigeria’s acute student housing shortage. The funds, in partnership with Family Homes Fund Limited, will be used to provide clean-energy-based accommodation for students across tertiary institutions.
“We all know what an important intervention this is for the educational sector and students, given the shortage of student housing,” Edun remarked.
Boosting Trade Competitiveness with the National Single Window Project
In a bid to strengthen Nigeria’s global trade competitiveness, the council also approved the National Single Window Project, a digital initiative designed to improve the efficiency of export and import processes.
The Minister stated that technology providers and hardware suppliers have been authorised to proceed with the project, which is expected to enhance government revenue and bolster Nigeria’s position in regional and continental trade, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
“The world is moving away from open trade towards more regionalised economic zones,” Edun noted. “For Nigeria to remain competitive, it must integrate more effectively with the ECOWAS region and the wider African market.”
Health Sector Investment and African Medicines Agency Treaty
In further developments, the council ratified Nigeria’s accession to the African Medicines Agency (AMA) Treaty, joining 26 other African nations in a bid to harmonise drug regulation across the continent.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, stated that the treaty would improve Nigeria’s regulatory capacity for medical products, expand access to safe and effective medicines, and enhance the “Made in Nigeria” pharmaceutical industry by integrating it into a broader African market.
Additionally, the government approved N12bn for the procurement of major diagnostic equipment for tertiary hospitals, including MRI machines and CT scanners. The funding will support medical institutions in Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Osun, Nasarawa, Adamawa, and Kebbi States, among others.
“You can see that gradually, piece by piece, we have been building our health infrastructure,” Pate said. “Nigeria is now beginning to attract patients from the region and beyond, including the UK and US, which reflects the growing quality of our healthcare system.”
With a flurry of new approvals, the economic management team has been tasked with aligning and prioritising projects to ensure they deliver on President Bola Tinubu’s investment, job creation, poverty reduction, and energy security agenda.
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