Nigeria’s total debt to the World Bank rose to $17.81 billion as of December 2024, from $15.45 billion in 2023.
Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows that the debt increased by $2.36 billion in 2024, driven by six newly approved loans targeted at key sectors including healthcare, rural infrastructure, governance, and fiscal reforms.
The debt includes borrowings from the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
According to data from the DMO, debt to the IDA rose from $14.96 billion to $16.56 billion, while loans from the IBRD surged significantly from $485.54 million to $1.24 billion.
This 15.3per cent increase marks Nigeria’s strongest annual growth in exposure to the World Bank in recent years, with the Bretton Woods institution maintaining its position as the country’s most significant multilateral creditor.
World Bank records show that the rise in debt was triggered by the approval of six major loans in 2024, which cut across infrastructure, healthcare, and economic stabilisation efforts, with a combined value of $4.25 billion.
The largest of the loans is the Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation (RESET) Development Policy Financing (DPF), a $1.5 billion facility approved in June 2024 to support macroeconomic reforms, create fiscal space, and protect vulnerable groups.
The World Bank had earlier disbursed a $1.5 billion loan to Nigeria under the RESET DPF initiative, the NG Accelerating Resource Mobilization Reforms Program-for-Results (PforR) worth $750 million, which aims to boost non-oil revenues and safeguard oil and gas revenue streams. Both programs are being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Other $500 million loans include the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project – Scale Up (approved in December 2024), the Nigeria: Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Program, and the HOPE Governance Project aimed at improving resource management in education and health — both approved in September. Also approved was the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project, which focuses on dam safety and water resource management for power and agriculture.
Although these projects have combined commitments of $4.25 billion, actual disbursements in 2024 amounted to $2.36 billion, with the remainder expected to be drawn over the next few years.
By the end of 2024, Nigeria’s total external debt stood at $45.78 billion, with the World Bank accounting for $17.81 billion or 38.9 per cent of that figure, up from 36.4 per cent a year earlier.
Within the multilateral category, the World Bank now represents 79.8 per cent of Nigeria’s total multilateral debt, which stood at $22.32 billion in 2024.
