Nigeria and the IMF: The efforts of General Abubakar, President Obasanjo’s predecessor, have paid off with the IMF. Relations with Nigeria’s international creditors have improved substantially ever since the country was excluded from the Fund’s High Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Nigeria’s external debt, calculated roughly at $30bn, can be reduced according to IMF boss Michael Camdessus if the necessary reforms are put into place. “We are willing to place the full range of our services at your disposal to help design a program of economic reform,” said Camdessus. These include a more realistic approach to privatization and a liberalization of trade and exchange systems.

Obasanjo visits ADB: On a working visit to the headquarters of the African Development Bank (ADB) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, President Obasanjo pledged to continue Nigeria’s support to development projects. Nigeria is a founding member of the ADB and its largest shareholder. To date, 28 African countries have been able to finance development projects through the Nigerian Trust Fund (NTF) which was endowed by the Abuja government with $100 million this year. The ADB’s private sector window has in turn sponsored over $16 million in loans to private business initiatives in Nigeria. ADB President Omar Kabbaj expressed his confidence that ADB and the Obasanjo cabinet will constitute a very fruitful partnership.

Goodbye Usman: In a recent interview, outgoing Minister of Finance Ismaila Usman confessed that his most difficult responsibility had been drawing up the 1999 budget and containing extra budgetary spending. As his most enduring achievement he referred to the principle of transparency and accountability which has become one of President Obasanjo’s main selling points. He credited the 1999 budgetary package with laying the foundation for the economy to forge beyond the ‘formidable, although not insurmountable’ challenges. But, according to the interview, what has brought him the most personal satisfaction, was the fact that international creditors are once again interested in Nigerian affairs.

Contracts under scrutiny: Shortly after being sworn in as President, Olusegun Obasanjo suspended all contracts and agreements signed by the previous government after January 1, 1999. More than $2 billion had been drawn down this year from the country’s foreign reserves to meet the cost of projects that the new cabinet does not consider a top priority. Obasanjo has set up a review committee to determine which contracts should still be honored, including 11 offshore oil agreements that have revealed strong military connections.