FG seeks fresh $1.5bn World Bank loan pushing Nigeria’s total public debt to a record N166.79tn

FG seeks fresh $1.5bn World Bank loan pushing Nigeria’s total public debt to a record N166.79tn

The Federal authorities has opened discussions with the sector bank for three new loans totalling $1.5bn, as Nigeria’s total public debt rose to a report N166.79tn at the quit of June 2026. files from the sector bank display that the proposed financing contains 3 separate $500m centers covering climate resilience, social safety and early early life development.

The maximum instantaneous is a proposed extra $500m financing for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes venture, called ACReSAL. the sector financial institution has set October 29, 2026, because the predicted date for attention via its board. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is listed because the borrower, at the same time as the Federal Ministry of environment is the enforcing company.

If accredited, the extra financing would growth the size of the ACReSAL programme from $700m to $1.2bn, with investment provided thru the global improvement association, the world bank’s concessional financing arm. in line with the sector financial institution report, the Nigerian government asked the extra $500m to enlarge the project and toughen arrangements for maintaining integrated landscape management.

The funding is predicted to support panorama restoration, watershed rehabilitation, erosion and flood control, irrigation and drainage, water harvesting and storage, reforestation and different weather-resilient interventions. Of the proposed $500m, $310m would be allocated to dryland management, $165m to community weather resilience and $25m to institutional strengthening and venture control.

ACReSAL presently operates throughout 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory and is designed to deal with land degradation, water lack of confidence, climate vulnerability and declining agricultural productivity. the second proposed facility is a $500m IDA credit score for the household Prosperity and Empowerment-Social protection challenge.

The project is at an earlier degree of training, with its technical graph review expected on October 30, 2026, and a tentative international financial institution approval date of March 16, 2027. The programme could offer social help to bad and vulnerable families thru focused unconditional and conditional coins transfers. it might also modernise the social registry, combine countrywide identity Numbers into the social safety statistics system and reinforce implementation across federal, nation and nearby governments.

The 0.33 proposed $500m facility is for the Nigeria Early adolescence improvement programme, which has an anticipated approval date of March 15, 2027. The programme might cover all 36 states and the FCT and is meant to improve get admission to to health, nutrients, early studying, childcare, water, sanitation and other offerings for children aged five and beneath.

The proposed borrowing comes as figures from the Debt management workplace show that Nigeria’s public debt improved by N14.39tn within three hundred and sixty five days, rising from N152.40tn in June 2025 to N166.79tn in June 2026. This represented a nine.forty four in step with cent year-on-12 months boom. In dollar phrases, public debt rose with the aid of $21.27bn, or 21.35 per cent, from $ninety nine.66bn to $one hundred twenty.93bn for the duration of the equal length.
home debt stood at N91.59tn at the cease of June, accounting for fifty four.ninety one in keeping with cent of the full debt inventory, while outside debt amounted to N75.20tn, representing 45.09 in step with cent.

The Federal government accounted for most of the debt, with N87tn in home liabilities and N65.77tn in outside responsibilities. States and the FCT owed N4.59tn regionally and N9.42tn externally. Treasury bills recorded widespread growth, growing from N12.76tn in June 2025 to N19.48tn in June 2026, an increase of N6.72tn or fifty two.sixty four according to cent.

Nigeria’s first-rate debt to the arena financial institution group also reached $20.73bn on the stop of June 2026, comprising $19.12bn owed to the IDA and $1.61bn to the worldwide bank for Reconstruction and development. the arena financial institution group consequently accounted for approximately 38 in step with cent of Nigeria’s $fifty four.52bn outside debt stock on the give up of June. The proposed $1.5bn centers stay at diverse levels of education and consideration and feature no longer all obtained final global financial institution approval.