The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has accused western powers of being a stumbling block to Nigeria’s plan to improve power output through the use of coal. Adeosun said this on Wednesday in Washington during a discussion on the importance of addressing infrastructure gaps in developing countries at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund General Meetings.
She said that improving power supply was the corner stone of the current administration’s goal towards economic development, yet finding it difficult to get support from western community. “We want to build a coal power plant because we are a country blessed with coal, yet we have power problem.
So it doesn’t take a genius to workout that it will make sense to build a coal power plant.
“However, we are being blocked from doing so, because it is not green. This is not fair because they have an entire western industralisation that was built on coal fired energy. “This is the competitive advantage that was used to develop Europe, yet now that Nigeria wants to do it, they say it’s not green, so we cannot. “They suggest that we use solar and wind, which is the more expensive. So yes, Africa must invest in its infrastructure, but we must also make sure that the playing field is level,” she said.
Adeosun said that in spite of the need for foreign borrowing to finance the country’s infrastructure gap, the strategy was to get the cheapest money. She said Nigeria’s debt to GDP remained very low but that the cost of servicing those loans was high.
“Right now, we are being very conservative about our debt and we are trying to get the cheapest money possible from multilateral agencies. We are working very hard to make sure that we get multilateral funds first before we go to the euro bond market, which is a little bit more expensive,” she said.
She added that the country’s strategy was to get public private investments because even if Nigeria dedicated five years’ full budget to bridging infrastructure gap, it would still be insufficient. Meanwhile, a report released by the IMF showed that global debt was currently at a record high of 152 trillion dollars.
The Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF, Mr Vitor Gaspar at a news conference, said the debt was 225 per cent of World Gross Domestic Product.
The report showed that 100 trillion dollars was debt of the private sector, while the remaining was public debt. To address the growing problem, the report suggested targeted fiscal interventions in form of government sponsored programmes to help restructure private debt. “Fiscal policy cannot do it alone – a comprehensive action using all three policy prongs, that is monetary, fiscal and structural policy.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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The same Western powers you people are rushing to go and worship? Baba has literally been running Nigeria from there compering the number of trips he has made and number of days he has spent there.
ReplyDeleteYou people are confused incompetent clueless ignorant and vision less.
Now is still morning more are still coming. As event are unfolding
DeleteBaba has to go because half of our monies where and are exported there and are stored up in their banks. Those countries are making it difficult for us to get our monies back, because they also need it to invest in their own economy. They are not confused, incompetent, clueless, ignorant and vision less as you say, but rather factual and unbiased. We are just not ready for the things that will improve our economy.
DeleteBlind Buhari blind governmemt
ReplyDeleteBlind Apc blind kemi adeosun...keep running to them for help.
Western nations you say. China has the know how to fund and develop coal infrastructure, which constitutes a significant portion of their energy mix. Why not turn to them? Western nations will NEVER watch you grow under their noses that's why Philippines,Turkey, among other "emerging" economies are pivoting to China. Is that difficult to understand? Must it be the Europe/US axis? Get real Adeosun; play the world powers against themselves. National interest first.
ReplyDeleteShe did not go and meet US or Europe for money, she asked the international body. The international body comprises of all nations of the world including China and Japan and not just US and or Europe. Too many countries have already gone to china, that is why we have gone to Japan.
DeleteWe are not going to Europe or US for funds, we are going to the international bodies like IMF and World bank, they comprise of all countries in the world and not just US or Europe. We have also gone to Japan for funding as well.
DeleteYou run to the western powers in desperation for power, and you didn't care about the price. Now, they dictate the pace and direction of your government as expected. How dare you challenge the powers that installed of of you in government. Sadly, another set of Nigerian politicians will do it again in 2019, either to retain power or to remove the incumbent. Same ornament for slaves mentality of their so called founding fathers.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up mrs kemi Adeosun nigerian is building up with good from the good government. All the best Buhari and Adeosun
ReplyDeleteMy friends in the house, please the Base of this whole rubbish is the minister Kemi and APC are confused. If they have an ideal they won't be saying western/USA are they the only one but if u ppl want to borrow money u go to china,Saudi..
ReplyDeleteSteve Obiakor on October 6, 2016 at 12:13 pm
ReplyDeleteThis is on point. It is also pertinent to add that we must learn how to use our naturally endowed resources to solve our problems. The western world want to keep growing their economies and Nigeria is a very big market for all sorts of exports. They’ll want us to buy their batteries and solar panels rather than allowing us harness our mineral deposits (coal). Why haven’t they stopped oil exploration, gold and diamond mines? I like the fact that the minister looked them straight in the face and told them the bitter truth.
Have you done your research on how much USA, Germany, China to mention a few depend on coal for energy? Find out then. Why should Nigeria be stopped? Ask yourselves. Do your findings on all the conventions and protocols on carbon emission reductions and you would find that USA, even when they spearhead such protocols-- Kyoto, Brazil, and lately France, they do not sign any treaty. Why? It will affect their industrial output and cause job loss and significant fall in GDP. Recently, Buhari sheepishly signed the Paris Agreement, despite Africa's very low carbon emission level compared to other continenets. What for when you are barely industrialized? The implication of such ignorant arrangements are bound to turn out to what Adeosun is crying foul over. We never learn.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I want to point out that the countries in the horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea,Djibouti, Somalia are leveraging their strategic locations vis a vis Middle East and the Indian Ocean to achieve their needs. Witness USA, and China in particular on how they keep trying to outmaneuver each other to acquire footholds in the region. Today, Ethiopia can boast of Standard gauge electric railway networks all over their country. When the USA was supporting the former government, what did they offer? Ask me. China has been able to provide these countries all the infrastructures they would only have dreamt of for another millennium to come. What IMF and World Bank can prevent China EXIM Bank from assisting Nigeria if they so wish? Your argument is invalid, sir.
ReplyDelete