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Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

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21–30 of 224 posts

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#21
I'm I the only one who thinks that Japan kinda looks bad here?

I mean, Bill's foundation is already dedicating $3B a year on development assistance, couldn't Japan just say to Nigeria: "You don't have to pay us back. Consider it a donation". How could they reasonably expect Nigeria to pay them back $76M?

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#23

The problem is a charity paying off your debt does not make your credit better. While its slightly better than a writeoff/forgiveness because the creditor isn't as angry, it still shows they can't pay back loans. Is a future creditor going to count on a charity showing up to pay them off?

The article isn't clear, but I'd guess from the small outbreak in 2016 after being Polio-free in 2014/15 that the concern is that polio still isn't completely eliminated in Nigeria. Presumably it will need ongoing monitoring for several more years to ensure it is completely gone. Having to pay back the debt could jeopardise that ongong effort. In which case, this seems a good investment.

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#24
post #16

Why does the 6th largest oil exporter in the world need a $76M loan paid? Edit: Downvotes? Legitimate question guys. Can someone explain how that works?

Wikipedia gives 2.231 million barrels exported per day for Nigeria in 2013. At $50 per barrel this amounts 40 billion Dollar per year. I have no idea what the profit margins are but at 10 % this yields only 4 billion Dollar in profits per year which seems rather little to me, especially given that it is the 6th largest oil exporter. So 76 million Dollar would be 1.9 % of the annual profits from oil exports, not much but also not negligible. But I think I must have committed an error somewhere, those 4 billion Dollar just look too tiny to me.

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#25
post #8

On the face of it $76m seems like a staggering amount of money. Then we learn that the foundation dedicates $3b a year, and this seems like a drop in the bucket. Amazing what massively focused resources can accomplish.

Also a drop in the bucket compared with Nigeria's oil revenue. Why do they need charity to pay off the loan?

This is clearly the Gates just engaging in corruption while making it look like they're "helping out".

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#26
post #21

I'm I the only one who thinks that Japan kinda looks bad here? I mean, Bill's foundation is already dedicating $3B a year on development assistance, couldn't Japan just say to Nigeria: "You don't have to pay us back. Consider it a donation". How could they reasonably expect Nigeria to pay them back $76M?

Or, this encourages japan more.

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#27
post #16

Why does the 6th largest oil exporter in the world need a $76M loan paid? Edit: Downvotes? Legitimate question guys. Can someone explain how that works?

Because most of the oil and international aid money end up in the pockets of Nigeria's politicians.

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#29
post #24
post #16

Why does the 6th largest oil exporter in the world need a $76M loan paid? Edit: Downvotes? Legitimate question guys. Can someone explain how that works?

Wikipedia gives 2.231 million barrels exported per day for Nigeria in 2013. At $50 per barrel this amounts 40 billion Dollar per year. I have no idea what the profit margins are but at 10 % this yields only 4 billion Dollar in profits per year which seems rather little to me, especially given that it is the 6th largest oil exporter. So 76 million Dollar would be 1.9 % of the annual profits from oil exports, not much…

they probably consume a significant amount internally which will not show up in exports.

Re: Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria's $76M Debt to Japan

#30
post #24
post #16

Why does the 6th largest oil exporter in the world need a $76M loan paid? Edit: Downvotes? Legitimate question guys. Can someone explain how that works?

Wikipedia gives 2.231 million barrels exported per day for Nigeria in 2013. At $50 per barrel this amounts 40 billion Dollar per year. I have no idea what the profit margins are but at 10 % this yields only 4 billion Dollar in profits per year which seems rather little to me, especially given that it is the 6th largest oil exporter. So 76 million Dollar would be 1.9 % of the annual profits from oil exports, not much…

$40B / year actually seems to be a high estimate for revenue: http://www.worldstopexports.com/worlds-top-oil-exports-count...

This has $27B in 2016, which is a 73% drop from 2012. You're probably right that it's a significant chunk of money for them, especially when they've recently lost 3/4s of their market share.

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