Nigeria Set to Access More Infrastructure Financing, Joins Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

• Nigeria has officially joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a full member after completing the necessary procedures
• Finance Minister Wale Edun highlighted the membership's potential to drive economic growth and infrastructure development
• Nigeria has subscribed for 50 shares worth $5 million, and the membership is expected to unlock funding opportunities for vital infrastructure projects

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

Nigeria has joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a full member.

The decision was finalised at Monday's Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, confirmed Nigeria's membership during the meeting and emphasised its significance for economic growth and infrastructural development.

Having received an initial invitation to join in 2021, Channels TV reported that Nigeria has now completed the legal, administrative, and financial procedures required for entrance to the AIIB.

Although the AIIB has its headquarters in Asia, Edun stressed that non-regional members committed to the development of sustainable infrastructure are equally welcome.

“We’ve concluded that process now, and we are fully-fledged members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is set up to promote infrastructure development and sustained economic growth in all its members,” Edun said.

Edun also highlighted lessons from the recent World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., where international financial institutions confirmed Nigeria’s macroeconomic reform efforts under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government.

He noted the IMF’s Article IV Consultation, which recognised the stability established through Nigeria’s financial restructuring despite external economic shocks, such as reciprocal tariffs imposed by the U.S.

“It is the resilience created by the macroeconomic reforms that stabilized the economy and allowed us to cope with the recent introduction of reciprocal tariffs in America and the turbulence that caused,” Edun stated.

Nigeria has subscribed for 50 shares, each worth $100,000, for a total of $5 million as part of its inaugural commitment.

It is anticipated that the membership will speed up economic development in a number of industries and open up funding options for key infrastructure projects.

Nigeria, among biggest beneficiaries of World Bank funding

Legit.ng reported that with an emphasis on reaching isolated and underserved regions of the continent, the World Bank's lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA), was founded in 1960 and has since disbursed over US$287 billion in finance to help development in the world's poorest nations.

African nations have received slightly over US$210 billion in IDA disbursements over the program's existence, or almost 73% of the total.

With $41.8 billion, or 14.5% of the lending, East Asia is the second-largest region to receive funds from the IDA.

Source: Legit.ng