Senate approves $10m loan to Sao Tome and Principe
From MODESTUS CHUKWULAKA, Abuja
Friday, June 26, 2009
More Stories on This Section President Umaru Yar’Adua yesterday got a nod from the Senate for his proposed $10 million loan to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, in spite of the reservation expressed by many senators that the gesture could not be justified given the level of infrastructural decay in Nigeria.
The Committee on Finance, which had considered the request, endorsed Yar’Adua’s request for Senate’s approval for the loan. Its recommendation had been submitted to the Upper Legislative Chamber for further action.
However, justifying the President’s request, Chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Mohammed Ahmed Makarfi, said that his committee in the cause of its deliberations had observed that the loan would be in the best economic interest of Nigeria.
He said that the Debt Management Office (DMO) was able to convince the committee on why Sao Tome and Principe, a “strategic maritime neighbour, deserved the loan. According to him, the DMO had reasoned that the gesture was “anchored on the frameworks of the Joint Development Zone,” and would “strengthen and consolidate the security in the Gulf region taking into account the geo-politics of international oil crises and economic interests of Nigeria.”
Makarfi said the director-general of the DMO told his committee that acceding to the request would further enhance the leadership status of Nigeria in the continent of Africa.
But in opposing the move, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, (Bayelsa State) wondered if Nigeria had become a father Christmas that gives out loans without interest, pointing out that “even when we take loans from World Bank or IMF, there is always an interest to pay.”
Faulting the timing of the proposed loan, Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi State) said much as he believed that Nigeria should be a big brother in Africa, he was not convinced this is the time to grant such loans. “This is a time when our power sector, railway system and the entire infrastructure is down. If we are giving a loan, it has to be on business basis. I do not know the conditions attached to this loan. There must be interest attached. It must not be at the expense of our people,” Adeyemi said. Also reasoning in the same direction, Senator Grace Bent (Adamawa State) said the loan was uncalled for because Nigeria’s assistance to many African countries was never reciprocated. “When the chips are down, these countries that we have assisted…what do they do at the end of the day? We did so much for South Africa, Liberia etc, when it is time for them to support Nigeria, we don’t get their support.
“I am talking about the UN seat. A lot of African countries have been going behind to lobby for the seat. None of them has come forward to support us. We need to see the agreement of the loan and something should be attached to it. It should not be free. We are not a financial institution,” Bent said.
Yar’Adua had, while seeking approval for the loan, explained that Sao Tome and Principe had a previous record of prompt repayment of loan as was evident in the case of a $15 million facility granted to it between 2002 and 2003.
El Senado nigeriano le dio el visto bueno al presidente Umaru Yar’Adua para otorgarle un préstamo de 10 millones de dólares estadounidenses a la República de Santo Tomé y Príncipe. El préstamo obedece a la situación de emergencia del país, siendo sin interés y la devolución fue pactada en un plazo de cuatro a seis años.

Algunos senadores nigerianos no estaban de acuerdo con la medida, ya que sostenían que no se justificaba entregar el préstamo dada la debilidad actual que presenta la economía de Nigeria. Sin embargo, el presidente de la Comisión de Economía, el senador Mohammed Ahmed Makarfi, recalcó que el préstamo es de interés económico de Nigeria. La DMO (''Debt Management Office'', en español Oficina de Administración de Deuda) presentó argumentos convincentes a la Comisión, entre ellos la importancia de Santo Tomé y Principe como vecino marítimo estratégico, el fortalecimiento de las estructuras de desarrollo conjunto y la seguridad de la zona del Golfo de Guinea.

Makarfi, además, afirmó que la concesión del préstamo consolida el liderazgo de Nigeria en el continente africano y citó los antecedentes de que Santo Tomé y Príncipe había pagado en su totalidad en el año 2007 préstamos por 15 millones de dólares que Nigeria le concedió entre 2002 y 2004, y que el ex-primer Ministro de Santo Tomé y Príncipe, Patrice Trovoada, ya había solicitado 30 millones de dólares en marzo de 2008 para la asisitencia económica.