Nigeria, Nov. 1 -- The EXIM Bank of China is Nigeria's biggest bilateral creditor in nearly 2 decades, having lent the African largest economy $6.5 billion (or N1.9 trillion) since 2002, analysis of official disclosures exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES has shown.

Based on separate Freedom of Information replies by the finance ministry and the Debt Management Office, DMO, our analysis showed Nigeria has obtained 17 Chinese loans to fund projects across sectors since 2002.

Transportation and ICT sectors have six projects each financed by loans from the Chinese bank, while energy, agriculture and water sectors, respectively, have three and two projects tied to Chinese loans.

The first Chinese loan to Nigeria was agreed on March 27, 2...