The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the acquisition of credit facilities to procure fighter aircraft and ammunition for the Nigerian Air Force.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, during a briefing with State House correspondents on Wednesday, following the FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Standing in for the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, who is currently on official duty in the United States, Idris provided key details of the FEC’s decision.
“The first one is that there have been approvals for some contracts, about seven of them for the Nigerian Customs Service,” Idris said.
He added: “The next one is an approval for an agreement for the elimination of double taxation concerning taxes on income and the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.”
He further noted, “The third one is an approval to obtain a credit facility for €443,330,781.49 and another $141 million from a group of financiers for the procurement of six units of M346 fighter aircraft and ammunition for the Nigerian Air Force.”
Additionally, the Council approved a double taxation agreement between Nigeria and Botswana.
In another development, the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, revealed that FEC has approved the establishment of the Creative Economy Fund.
“FEC approved the creation of a Creative Economy Development Fund. This special purpose vehicle will allow members within the creative economy to access funding and use their IP as collateral for monetisation,” Musawa explained.
She highlighted the critical need for structural reforms in the sector: “We identified very early that the fundamental structures for us to tap into the creative economy’s potential were missing. So, we got to work putting up those structures.”
Musawa added, “We are working with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Ministry of Justice to ensure we deliver an IP policy, hopefully within the next two weeks.”
The Minister also disclosed that the Afrexim Bank has committed $200 million to support the fund.
“This is a particular purpose vehicle that will allow us to give this funding to members within the community.
And hopefully, we’ll be able to tap into the potential and reach our targets of economic expansion, creative expansion, cultural expansion, and job creation, specifically for the younger demographic,” she said.