The Federal Government has announced it has secured a $747 million loan to finance Phase 1 Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Highway

This was made public by the Ministry of Finance yesterday.

It was gathered that Deutsche Bank arranged the facility.

Phase 1, Section 1 of the Highway is from Victoria Island to Eleko Village.

A statement by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Mohammed Manga, indicated that it was the first syndicated road infrastructure loan of its size in Nigeria and “a strong signal of global investor confidence in the country’s reform trajectory and infrastructure pipeline.”

The ministry added, “Deutsche Bank acted as Global Coordinator, Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner and participated in the syndicate, alongside other regional and international lenders.

“The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) provided partial political and commercial risk insurance.

“The syndicate includes support from development finance institutions, export credit agencies and international commercial banks—notably First Abu Dhabi Bank, also acting as Agent across all facilities and Intercreditor Agent, whose involvement underscores its strong and growing support for Nigeria.

“Other lenders involved are the African Export-Import Bank (“Afrexim”), the Abu Dhabi Exports Office (“ADEX”), the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (“EBID”), Nexent Bank N.V. (formerly known as Credit Europe Bank N.V.) and Zenith Bank (through its UK, Paris and Nigeria offices).

“The project is structured as an EPC+F (Engineering, Procurement, Construction + Financing) contract awarded to Hitech Construction Company, one of Nigeria’s leading infrastructure firms.

“This structure aims at a strategic partnership between the Government and the private sector, seamlessly aligning technical execution with financing solutions."