The Director-General, Nigeria’s Country Department, African Development Bank, Mr Lamin Barrow, on Friday, said the bank’s portfolio investments in Nigeria are one of the largest among the regional member countries with a total commitment value of $ 4.4 billion.
He stated this at the 2023 Country Portfolio Performance Review Workshop in Abuja.
This performance, however, is a reduction from the $5bn worth of portfolio in 63 operations recorded in 2022.
Barrow, while reiterating the bank’s commitment to promote investments in the country, said 48 separate fundings were evenly distributed between public and private sector operations in the country.
He said, “Currently, the bank’s portfolio in Nigeria is one of the largest among the regional member countries with a total commitment value of $ 4.4 billion.
“These include 48 operations fairly and evenly distributed between public and private sector operations.”
Barrow added that the rate of flagged operations had decreased from 36 per cent in January 2023 to 32 per cent in September 2023.
According to him, diligent monitoring of the procurement plans and implementation processes will help the bank achieve 100 per cent compliance.
He noted, “We are pleased that the share of start-up delays has been reduced from 32% of flagged operations in June 2023 to 28% in October 2023, and is expected to reach 8% by the end of 2023 with timely and targeted actions for some projects.
“Some of our portfolio performance metrics have also improved. In particular, operations flagged for implementation challenges decreased from 36% in January 2023 to 32% in September 2023.
The DG acknowledging its portfolio performance metrics, noted that a collective effort from the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Executing Agencies, and the Bank helped reduce start-up and implementation delays.
“These improvements were a result of collective efforts from the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Executing Agencies, and the Bank to reduce start-up and implementation delays. Indeed, the time taken to meet loan effectiveness and first disbursement conditions tend to be excessive.”
“This progress notwithstanding, we are yet to be where we should be. The Bank’s corporate target for flagged operations is 20%. With diligent monitoring of the procurement plans implementation processes, we can achieve 100 % compliance,” he concluded.
