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Written evidence submitted by Jubilee Scotland

 

12 February 2008

 

 

1. Nigeria's debt buy-back was £1.7 billion of the UK's net ODA in 2006-07 (£6.8 billion). (Statistics on International Development.)

 

2. According to the OECD accounting rules, cancellation of military debts cannot be counted towards ODA targets (they are to be accounted as OOF). All of the debt bought back from Nigeria was export credit debt.

 

Further, on average, around 40% of export credits are for arms. If this percentage held for Nigeria's debts, then around 40% of Nigeria's debts should not be counted towards the ODA. This would mean that, potentially, the UK would have to reduce its ODA by £700 million (about 40% of £1.7 billion).

 

3. Given Nigeria's recent history it is natural to wonder whether it has military debts to the UK.

 

4. A Parliamentary Answer has set out, however, that there are no such debts known:

 

Arms Trade: Nigeria

Dr. Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of export credit outstanding at the end of financial year 2004-05 for Nigeria was for military goods. [180895] Malcolm Wicks [/holding answer 28 January 2008/]: Information on ECGD business supported prior to 1991 is not held on a basis which enables defence to be identified separately from other sectors. ECGD has however supported no defence business on Nigeria since that date. (29 Jan 2008 :

Column 202W)

 

5. The first part of the answer means that military debts cancellation may have been counted towards the 0.7% target, but that the ECGD is administratively unable to determine what this is.

 

6. The second part of the answer is surprising. According to the Observer:

 

UK arms sales to Nigeria [are] up tenfold since 2000 to £53m, including armoured vehicles and large calibre artillery. (June 12, 2005)

 

7. Exports to Nigeria is surely precisely the risky transactions sort for which the Export Credit Guarantee Department exists to support. It therefore seems surprising that no such deals have been supported since 1991.

 

8. In order to rule out the possibility that cancellation of military debts has been counted towards ODA targets, Jubilee Scotland recommends that the Committee investigates (i) whether, the structure of ECGD record keeping pre-1991 may be obscuring cancelled military debts and (ii) whether there are additional modalities under which military debt may have been owed to the UK.