The Federal Government has confirmed it has accessed the first $1.5 billion from its $5 billion financing facility with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), marking the initial drawdown from the loan arrangement.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this while briefing journalists after Monday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
Oyedele said the financing facility, which had earlier received approval from the National Assembly, is intended to refinance expensive debt, fund critical infrastructure projects and support the implementation of the 2026 budget.
“The approval for that loan went to the National Assembly, so everybody is aware of it. It’s for refinancing of expensive debts, financing of infrastructure, as well as budgets,” he said.
The minister noted that the government would not issue public announcements for every drawdown from the facility, describing the process as a routine financing operation.
“We don’t want to start making press releases each time we do a drawdown. It is not different from any other loan,” he added.
Oyedele’s comments represent the first official confirmation that Nigeria has begun utilising the facility. Last week, Bloomberg reported that the country had accessed about $1.5 billion through a Total Return Swap arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Explaining the financing structure, the minister said the $5 billion facility was intentionally designed to be drawn in phases rather than accessed all at once, allowing the government to minimise borrowing costs by paying interest only on the portion of the funds already utilised.
“The loan is meant to be a drawdown in tranches, and one of the advantages of that is, if you need $5 billion and you take everything at once, you start paying interest even though you’re not spending all of it now. So, this has been structured in a way that makes us even more efficient in the cost of borrowing by taking what we need as required,” he explained.
According to Oyedele, the phased drawdown forms part of the government’s broader debt management strategy aimed at reducing financing costs while ensuring adequate funding for priority infrastructure projects and budget execution.
