The minister of power, works, and housing, Babatunde Fashola, says debt for infrastructure in Nigeria is good debt, as far as he is concerned. Speaking at the Africa Investment Forum in Sandton South Africa today, Fashola said the Nigerian government should not be judged like a private company when it comes to borrowing.
The former governor of Lagos state said as a governor in Africa’s largest city, he had to take loans to set up six power plants in the state, but tied the repayment of the debt to the state’s monthly allocation from the federal government.
He said he gave the investors the assurance that if he defaulted, they could take the money from the monthly income of the state.
Fashola said there can be no infrastructural development without the government borrowing or raising taxes. Nigeria’s debt has grown by over 100 percent in the past three years.
Join our twitter community :