This year’s dramatic fall in oil prices combined with the federal government’s move to take on billions of dollars in new loans in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis is prompting widespread anxiety in Nigeria. Those concerns were further amplified this week when the country’s Debt Management Office (DMO) released new data that revealed the cost of servicing its current loan portfolio totaled about the same as the country’s first-quarter revenue.

Then throw China into the mix. The DMO issued a series of statements in recent days to allay fears that Nigerian strategic assets are vulnerable to being seized by the Chinese in the event of a debt default. The DMO said because the loans to China and other creditors are budgeted in advance, with many of the projects even scoped to become commercially viable, there is no chance that the country will fall behind on its payments to the Chinese or others.