By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The National Economic Council has approved the refinancing of the 3.3 billion Dollars Project Gazelle Pre-Export Finance Facility through a new 4.5 billion Dollars facility named “Project Gazelle 2”.
This was the outcome of the 159th meeting of the Council held virtually as the approval allows NNPC Limited to refinance the outstanding balance of approximately 1.5 billion Dollars under the original 2023 facility, while unlocking an additional 3 billion Dollars in liquidity to strengthen the country’s external reserves, support ongoing fiscal and infrastructure priorities.
NEC’s approval followed a presentation underscoring the importance of the project as the Council observed the significance of unlocking additional liquidity to the federation, among other benefits, pledging its support for the actualisation of the initiative.
Vice President Shettima called for a responsive, scalable, and data-driven social protection policy to tackle multidimensional poverty in Nigeria.
Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of finance explained that the refinancing has been structured on more favourable terms than the original facility, including a reduction in the volume of pledged crude oil from 90,000 barrels of oil per day to approximately 78,750 bpd – a 12.5 percent reduction.
