This is one of the first major studies to put the debt question in Nigeria into perspective. It is the outcome of a historic conference held in Abuja in May 2001 to discuss Nigeria’s future within the context of the country’s considerable debt burden.

Convened by the National Debt Management Office in collaboration with the African Institute for Applied Economics, Enugu, and the UK Department for International Development, the conference was attended by many local and international participants from the public and private sector.

Capturing salient points of various presentations at the conference, this book highlights the consensus reached along the way and the recommendations proffered for reducing the debt burden, strengthening the institutional framework for debt and resource management, and resuming sustainable development. The call is to all involved, Nigerians in general and the international community in particular, to work more proactively in helping the country escape the debt trap by refocusing its resources on fighting poverty and achieving the internationally agreed millennium development goals.

ABOUT THE EDITORS
NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA, an economist, is currently the vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group. In 2000, she took a leave of absence from the Bank to serve as economic advisor to President Obasanjo of Nigeria, during which she was primarily responsible for helping to rationalize the management of Nigeria’s large debt through the creation of the National Debt Management Office.

CHARLES C. SOLUDO is the executive director of African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) Enugu, Nigeria, and also, a professor of economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has consulted extensively for the major multilateral development organizations, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, UN agencies, and USAID, and has published extensively on African economic issues.

MANSUR MUHTAR is the director of Portfolio Management and Strategy at the National Debt Management Office. He is on secondment from the World Bank where he has held positions as administrator of Young Professionals Program and senior economist. Before joining the World Bank in 1992, he worked as lecturer and head of the Economics Department, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.

CATEGORY
Economics/AFRICA