President Tinubu seeks parliament's approval for $516 million highway loan

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has asked parliament to approve a $516 ​million foreign loan to help finance the ‌first sections of a new national highway, a major transport corridor linking the country's northwest to ​its southwest.

In a letter read by ​the Senate's president during a plenary session ⁠on Thursday, Tinubu said the government was ​seeking approval for the syndicated financing facility from ​Deutsche Bank, adding the loan was part of the government's medium-term borrowing plan approved by lawmakers.

The loan ​would have a nine-year tenor, including up ​to three years' grace, Tinubu said in the letter.

The ‌roughly ⁠1,000-km (600-mile) highway will link Sokoto state, in Nigeria's northwest, through the central Niger and Kwara states to the coastal town of Badagry ​in Lagos, ​the commercial ⁠capital.

Tinubu said the highway would deepen north–south links, cut travel times ​and haulage costs, lift trade and ​food ⁠security, and bolster national integration.

Last year, Nigeria raised a $747 million syndicated loan, led by Deutsche ⁠Bank, ​to fund the first ​phase of a planned 700-km (435-mile) coastal highway.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters