Nigeria Set to Hit $10bn World Bank Debt Under Tinubu

Nigeria’s reliance on external financing, particularly from the World Bank, has continued to grow under the current administration, pushing the country’s World Bank debt close to $10 billion.

Current projections indicate that Nigeria’s outstanding obligations to the World Bank could reach about $9.65 billion by the end of 2025. This figure is made up of loans from the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

According to figures cited by The Punch from the lender’s website, Nigeria’s World Bank exposure reflects a mix of concessional and near-commercial financing. While the IDA provides highly subsidised loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries, the IBRD extends credit on commercial or near-commercial terms to middle-income and financially stable low-income economies.

Loan approvals under President Bola Tinubu began shortly after his inauguration in 2023, when Nigeria secured about $2.7 billion for four major projects. Funding priorities that year targeted power sector recovery, renewable energy expansion, girls’ education, and women’s economic development.

Key facilities included:

• $750 million in IDA support for the Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project, aimed at accelerating private-sector led clean energy access.
  
• $700 million in IDA credit to strengthen girls’ secondary education in participating states.
  
• $500 million in IDA financing for the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale Up, designed to expand women’s economic opportunities.

Nigeria is also reportedly seeking an additional $500 million in World Bank financing on December 19, a move that could further lift the country’s exposure.

These and other programmes have contributed to Nigeria’s rising World Bank debt profile, bringing it close to $10 billion under the current president.

The 2025 loan pipeline is said to be roughly in line with the $2.7 billion obtained in 2023 but represents an estimated 36.6% drop from 2024.

Across the three-year period, IDA loans account for nearly $7.30 billion, while IBRD loans contribute about $2.35 billion. World Bank grants have also increased, rising from $0 in 2023 to $70.01 million in 2024, before easing to $52.18 million in 2025.

Nigeria is now described as Africa’s largest IDA borrower and the third-largest globally, with its stock of IDA loans reportedly climbing to $18.5 billion. The country’s exposure rose by about $1.4 billion (8.2%), from $17.1 billion in September 2024 to $18.5 billion in September 2025.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s total external debt stood at $46.98 billion as of June 30, 2025, underscoring the broader scale of the country’s growing dependence on foreign borrowing.