Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), says a deliberate communication strategy was instrumental in helping Nigeria secure the landmark Paris Club debt relief during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Before 2005, Nigeria had an external debt stock of $36 billion, which was carried over from the military years dating back to 1985.
In October 2005, when Okonjo-Iweala was the finance minister, Nigeria and the Paris Club announced a final agreement for debt relief worth $18 billion after Nigeria paid $12 billion.
The deal was completed on April 21, 2006, when Nigeria made its final payment and its books were cleared of any Paris Club debt, bringing Nigeria’s external debt profile to just $3 billion while domestic debt was only about N1 trillion.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at the public presentation of ‘The Pain and the Promise’, a new book
