THE Bola Tinubu’s administration has continued it borrowing spree in the new year, applying for a $1 billion World Bank loan, which should be approved in March 2026.
According to documents seen by Economy Post, the government is applying for the loan, which focuses on job creation and enhancement of investments in the economy.
Entitled, ‘Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration,’ the loan is being sought by the Wale Edun-led Federal Ministry of Finance, and will hopefully be approved on March 27, 2026.
Economy Post exclusively reported that Tinubu’s government borrowed a total of $3.754 billion from the World Bank in 2025, signifying the government’s rising growing appetite for foreign loans.
The biggest loan taken by Nigeria from the World Bank in 2025 was a $1 billion credit facility for ‘Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration.’ The loan was approved on December 18, 2025.
Also, a $500 million loan focused on ‘Fostering Inclusive Finance for MSMEs in Nigeria (FINCLUDE) Project‘ and another $6.8 million facility for ‘CBN Technical Assistance (TA) Facility‘ were both approved by the global lender on December 18 and December 19 respectively.
READ ALSO: Nigeria sinks deeper into debt as lawmakers approve Tinubu’s $2.85bn loan
On March 28, the World Bank had approved a $500,000 loan for Community Action (for) Resilience and Economic Stimulus Program. Three days later, it sanctioned two other credit lines totalling $800,000 and $552.179 million respectively.
While $800,000 facility was for the acceleration of nutrition results 2.0, the $552.179 million was for the improvement of quality basic education for Nigerians.
On June 24, the World Bank likewise approved $68 million for Nigeria’s Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement Project (SPESSE). In August, Nigeria obtained $300 million for ‘Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ with the nation securing another $500 million loan to improve human capital opportunities for the people.
In October 2025, Nigeria got a credit line of $500 million from the World Bank to build a resilient digital infrastructure that could bolster the nation’s growth.
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. The DMO data is not updated. By the time the agency releases its December 2025 report, Nigeria’s debt would have skyrocketed.
President Tinubu’s government held a $2.35 billion Eurobond sale in 2025 to raise funds to meet several needs. It was oversubscribed and attracted a record $13 billion orders mostly from international investors who wanted to participate in the market. However, a Eurobond is a debt instrument that pays principal and interest in a currency different from the currency of the country where it originated, according to Investopedia. Hence, the sale raised the nation’s external debt stock.
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.
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.
READ ALSO: Tinubu’s govt borrows $3.75bn from World Bank in 2025 as foreign loan appetite peaks
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.
In November 2025, the Senate approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to cover the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.
