A recent analysis of data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) reveals a significant increase in Nigeria’s debt to the World Bank, rising by $1.07 billion under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The debt grew from $14.51 billion in Q2 2023 to $15.59 billion by Q1 2024, marking a 7% increase.
The International Development Association (IDA), a key arm of the World Bank Group, accounted for the bulk of the increase, with its loans to Nigeria rising from $14.03 billion to $15.10 billion over the same period.
In contrast, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) saw a slight decrease in its loans to Nigeria.
The surge in borrowing has been accompanied by substantial debt servicing costs, with Nigeria spending a total of $1.06 billion on debt servicing for its World Bank loans over the four quarters from Q2 2023 to Q1 2024.
The IDA accounted for the majority of these costs, with Nigeria spending $629.4 million on servicing its debt to the IDA, while the IBRD accounted for $432.24 million.
This development comes as Nigeria has secured a total of $4.95 billion in loans from the World Bank under President Tinubu’s administration, with six loan projects approved, including loans for power, women empowerment, girl’s education, renewable energy, economic stabilization reforms, and resource mobilization reforms.
Additionally, the World Bank may approve four loan projects totaling $2 billion for Nigeria this year, which would bring the total loans secured under President Tinubu’s administration to $6.95 billion.
