THE World Bank will approve $1.506 billion loan for Nigeria in December 2025, according to Economy Post findings from the global lender. This is even as debt binge persists in Africa’s biggest oil producer.
The loan will be in 3 tranches and will focus on 3 different areas: job creation and investment, small businesses, and technical assistance to the central bank.
While $1 billion will be released by the bank for ‘Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration,’ another $500 million will be dedicated for ‘Fostering Inclusive Finance for MSMEs in Nigeria (FINCLUDE) Project.’ The remaining $6.8 million is entitled, ‘Nigeria: CBN Technical Assistance (TA) Facility,’ and will focus on supporting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The $1 billion is at the concept review stage, while the $500 million credit is at the decision-making stage. Also, the 6.8 million facility is at the cencept review stage.
According to analysts, Nigeria’s consistent exposure to external loans is very costly. “We pay more in naira and repay with much of our revenue,” said an economist, Dr Ntia Alighigbe, who is also an international finance advisor.
“We need to find alternative revenue routes, which could include selling some of our idle assets and reducing our cost of governance. We do not have to travel to any conference abroad and should begin to question some of President Bola Tinubu’s trips, which are yet to bring positive results,” he added.
Tinubu’s growing loans
Economy Post had reported that President Tinubu government’s loans constituted 43 percent of Nigeria’s total public debt, which stood at N152.398 trillion as of June 2025, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) data. His administration’s debt ratio will likely rise by the time Nigeria’s debt stock is released for September 2025, Economy Post can confirm.
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As of the time former President Muhammadu Buhari left office on May 29, 2023, the nation’s total public debt stood at N87.379 trillion, according to the DMO. However, with President Tinubu coming to power that same day, Nigeria’s debt profile rose thereafter, hitting N152.398 trillion as of June 2025, the data reveal.
This means that President Tinubu’s administration racked up N65.019 trillion between June 2023 and June 2025, marking 43 percent of the current public debt stock.
However, the figure does not include the recent debts taken by President Tinubu. In early September, Economy Post reported that the World Bank could approve loans totalling $1.75 billion for Nigeria before the end of the year to support the nation’s agricultural value chain, digital infrastructure, health security and small businesses. There are also other smaller loans which have been announced or approved but are yet to be received by the Nigerian government.
More loans
The Nigerian government is in advanced talks with China’s Export-Import Bank for a $2 billion loan to construct a new electricity super grid to address Nigeria’s long-standing power supply challenges.
According to Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, “It’s part of plans to decentralise power generation in Nigeria and get the heavy commercial users that left the power grid because of its unreliability to return.”
Bloomberg reported that the minister’s team confirmed that negotiations with China’s Exim Bank were progressing, while the financing for the super grid had already received cabinet approval.
Just recently, President Bola Tinubu asked the National Assembly to approve plans to raise $2.35 billion in external loans to part-finance the 2025 budget deficit and refinance Nigeria’s maturing Eurobonds, with another request to issue a $500 million sovereign Sukuk to fund infrastructure.
According to the president, the $2.35 billion borrowing was made up of new external loans of N1.843 trillion (about $1.229 billion at N1,500/$), which would help to finance the 2025 Appropriation Act and $1.118 billion to refinance Eurobonds issued in 2018 – due to mature in November 2025.
