Nigeria’s indebtedness to World Bank now N6tn

According to research by Daily Updates, under the presidency of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), Nigeria’s borrowing from the World Bank increased by 121.46%.

According to information obtained by DAILY UPDATES, the total amount of debt that Nigeria owes the World Bank Group increased by $7.64 billion (or N3.52 trillion, using the Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate, which was N460.53 per dollar as of April 23, 2023) in seven years.

According to information from the Debt Management Office’s external debt stock reports, the country’s debt to the Washington, DC-based lender increased from $6.29 billion (N2.9 trillion) in December 2015 to $13.93 billion (N6.42 trillion) in December 2022.

Nigeria has received loans from the World Bank’s International Development Association and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development over the years.

While the IDA offers grants and concessionary loans to governments of the world’s poorest nations, the IBRD lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income nations.

According to the data, Nigeria owes $6.29 billion to IDA and $3.57 billion to IBRD as of 2016, but by 2022, IDA’s debt to Nigeria would be $13.45 billion and IBRD’s would be $487.03 million.

Further analysis over the years revealed that Nigeria borrowed a total of $6.67 billion from the World Bank in 2016, $8.03 billion in 2017, $8.67 billion in 2018, $10.1 billion in 2019, $11.53 billion in 2020, and $12.38 billion in 2021.

The loans that the World has approved are usually tied to different projects across different parts of the country.

For instance, it was decided to co-finance the Nigeria Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project in 2020 with $280 million from the International Development Association (IDA), $230 million from the French Development Agency, and $65 million from the Federal Government of Nigeria. The project aims to upgrade rural roads, improve connectivity and access to local markets and agribusiness services in 13 states.

A $115 million IDA credit, $100 million from the French Development Agency, and $215 million from the European Investment Bank will be used to co-finance the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project, which will help the National Identity Management Commission get to 150 million people with national identification numbers in the next three years.

In 2021, the World Bank granted a $700m credit from the IDA for the Nigeria Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes Project.

The bank also granted $500 million to help increase access to energy in Nigeria and enhance the efficiency of the nation’s electrical distribution firms.

DAILY UPDATES recently reported that growing debt moved Nigeria up the World Bank’s top 10 International Development Association borrowers’ list.

Nigeria was ranked fifth on the list with $11.7 billion in IDA debt stock as of June 30, 2021, according to the World Bank’s Fiscal Year 2021 audited financial statements, also known as the IDA financial statement.

Nigeria has moved up to fourth place on the list, according to the World Bank’s recently issued Fiscal Year 2022 audited financial records for IDA, with a $13 billion IDA debt stock as of June 30, 2022.

This demonstrates that Nigeria, which replaced Vietnam as the fourth-largest debtor, accumulated roughly $1.3 billion in IDA debt in a fiscal year.

This debt is distinct from the unpaid loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank.

Except for Nigeria, the top five nations on the list all marginally decreased their IDA debt stock.

Recently, the World Bank revealed that Nigeria’s debt, while potentially manageable for the time being, is risky and expensive.

The Central Bank of Nigeria continues to provide significant and expanding finance, according to the bank, which makes Nigeria’s debt manageable even though it is risky and expensive.