New data emerging on Monday, December 8, 2025, has revealed that by the end of 2025, Nigeria would have borrowed $9.65 billion from the World Bank between 2023 and 2025.
It was gathered that this figure is comprised of loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).
The development also means that Nigeria has borrowed $9.65 billion from the World Bank since the commencement of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in 2023.
The Tinubu administration is expected to secure another $500m facility on December 19, 2025, under the Fostering Inclusive Finance for MSMEs in Nigeria project.
A breakdown of the data revealed that Nigeria began the borrowing cycle with $2.7bn in loans in 2023 across four major projects. Financing that year was dominated by power sector recovery, renewable energy access, girls’ education, and women’s economic empowerment.
The Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project received $750m in IDA financing to expand private sector-led clean energy access. Another $700m IDA credit was approved for girls’ secondary education in participating states. Women’s economic empowerment attracted $500m IDA through the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale Up.
The AF Power Sector Recovery operation received $449m in IBRD financing and $301m in IDA to improve the reliability of the electricity supply and restore financial sustainability in the sector. There were no grant components in 2023, so the entire amount consisted of loans.
Further breakdown revealed that in 2024, Nigeria’s borrowing from the World Bank rose with approvals reaching $4.25bn, representing a 57.4 per cent increase compared with the preceding year.
The increase was driven largely by two policy-based operations and three separate $500m IDA investment packages.
The Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation programme provided $1.5bn in loans, split between $750m IBRD and $750m IDA, as the government sought fiscal space and protection for vulnerable populations while reforms continued.
Another $750m IBRD loan was approved for the NG Accelerating Resource Mobilisation Reforms programme to boost non-oil revenues and safeguard oil and gas receipts.
The World Bank also cleared $500m IDA each for rural road access, primary healthcare strengthening, and dam safety and irrigation programmes. The primary healthcare programme included a $70m grant, which lifted total World Bank support for 2024, including grants, to about $4.32bn.
For 2025, the data revealed that the World Bank granted $2.695bn loans at various stages of project processing alongside $52.18m in grants. Nine operations have already been identified across financial inclusion, digital broadband, health, education, social protection, and institutional capacity.
The largest facilities are tied to $500m IDA each for broadband expansion, basic education, and livelihood support for poor and vulnerable households. Health security, nutrition, and internally displaced communities account for another $630m, while procurement standards receive $65m from IDA.
A $400m IBRD component is included for the MSME finance programme, along with a $100m IDA portion. Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria is to receive a $6.8m grant to strengthen technology-enabled oversight of the banking sector and deepen understanding of payment and remittance systems.
Compared with 2024, the 2025 loan pipeline represents a decline of about 36.6 per cent, though it is broadly in line with the $2.7bn reached in 2023. Across the three years, IDA loans account for about $7.30bn while IBRD loans contribute roughly $2.35bn. Grants add another $122.19m, rising from zero in 2023 to $70.01m in 2024 before easing to $52.18m in 2025.
The new data that revealed that Nigeria borrowed $9.65 billion from the World Bank in three years comes after the country’s stock of World Bank International Development Association loans rose to $18.5bn, making it the largest IDA borrower in Africa and the third-biggest in the world.
Fresh data from the IDA’s unaudited financial statements for the third quarter of 2025 confirmed that the country has maintained the ranking it first attained in 2024, when it climbed to third place after overtaking India. The country was the fourth-largest borrower in 2023.
According to the report, Nigeria’s exposure increased from $17.1bn in September 2024 to $18.5bn in September 2025, representing a rise of $1.4bn or 8.2 per cent. The increase reflects the country’s heavier reliance on concessional financing to plug infrastructure gaps, stabilise its reform programme, and support social spending amid volatile oil earnings.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have begun to react as Nigeria borrowed $9.65 billion from the World Bank in three years.
A Lagos-based economist, Adewale Abimbola, said loans from multilateral institutions such as the World Bank are largely concessionary, with interest rates typically below market levels and longer repayment tenors.
He noted that the critical question is not whether Nigeria should be borrowing, but whether the loans are structured and deployed effectively. “If it’s concessionary and tied to viable projects with medium-term revenue prospects, I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Abimbola explained. “Borrowing isn’t bad; what matters is utilisation.”
Reacting also, a development economist and CEO of CSA Advisory, Dr Aliyu Ilias, has expressed strong reservations about Nigeria’s rising debt profile in light of the World Bank’s fresh commitments.
According to him, the impact of the current borrowing spree is being felt in reduced public service delivery, particularly in capital expenditure, as debt servicing now consumes a significant portion of available revenue.
Economist and CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the rising World Bank commitments to Nigeria should be examined within the context of the country’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and annual budgets, which already provide for both domestic and foreign borrowing.
