The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved a $4.5 billion facility, “Project Gazelle 2,” to refinance NNPC Limited’s $3.3 billion Pre-Export Finance Facility, freeing up additional liquidity for the Federal Government.
The decision came at NEC’s 159th meeting, held virtually on Monday and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Under the new arrangement, the NNPC Limited will refinance the roughly $1.5 billion still outstanding from the original 2023 facility, while unlocking an extra $3 billion to shore up the country’s external reserves and support ongoing fiscal and infrastructure priorities.
The proposal was presented by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele. NEC noted the significance of the additional liquidity for the federation and pledged its support for the initiative’s implementation.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Oyedele said the refinancing was secured on more favourable terms than the original deal, including a cut in pledged crude oil volumes from 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 78,750, a 12.5% reduction.
He said this frees up an additional 11,250 bpd for the federation, even as NNPC’s own pledged volumes are reduced. The Minister added that the arrangement gives Nigeria access to more liquidity on improved terms while strengthening the country’s overall financing structure.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Vice President Kashim Shettima called for a responsive, scalable, and data-driven social protection policy to tackle multidimensional poverty in Nigeria.
He said government performance is often “heard before it is seen,” reflected in the price of food, the state of hospitals, school records, strain on families and the confidence of citizens and state government alike.
He urged the Council members to ensure their decisions show citizens that the government is attentive to the nation’s needs and ready to respond “with competence, compassion and purpose.”
