THE Export-Import Bank of India has announced that it is still waiting for the Nigerian government to come up with clear plans and projects that would make possible the release of the $100milllion it promised the country.Mr. Prabhakar Dalal, executive director of the bank, made this known at its headquarters located at the World Trade Centre, Mumbai, when a team of mechanised farm operators and financial experts visited him on Thursday at the instance of PrOpCom, a DfID project that operates in Nigeria, with headquarters in Abuja.According to Dalal, this window of investment opportunity became open during the visit of Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to Nigeria. The banks boss complained that the country is yet to come up with projects it intends to invest the money in. He said the bank might not make the money available until Nigeria is able to explain what it plans to do with it.Our understanding is that the project is yet to be approved by the government of Nigeria, Dalal said, adding that the process of identifying the project to be implemented is not yet complete.This, according to him, is the reason why Nigeria has not been able to draw the fund.The chief executive explained that his bank is a government institution, involved in government-to-government lines of credit. He said such a line of credit has already been made available to Senegal on an irrigation project, which has been a great success while Burkina Faso has also benefitted for the purpose of tomato processing.He said that the bank is a pioneer in supporting institutions and private companies in business. For private companies, he said the tenor of credit depends on size of projects and is between three and five years, with a margin varying between one and three per cent interest. He observed that before commercial banks from Nigeria could benefit from the banks funds, we will need security, a sort of government guarantee, assuring that his bank is open to such lines of credit.Dalal complained also that the India Export-Import Bank extended a line of credit to Nigerian counterpart, the NEXIM Bank, but that it was not used. Now that the opportunity has expired, he said, NEXIM will need to apply again if they still want the fund.He advised Nigerian commercial banks to combine together on whatever projects they want to finance, but cautioned that they must make it a big project and get the federal governments guarantee.He promised that that his bank can give guarantee for a number of years, to make things go smoothly. A hundred per cent guarantee is needed, he explained.
Click here to read full news..
