Nigeria has maintained its position as the third-largest borrower from the International Development Association (IDA), the concessional lending arm of the World Bank, even though its debt exposure recorded a slight decline in the first quarter of 2026.
Data from the IDA’s March 2026 financial statements showed that Nigeria’s exposure stood at $18.5 billion as of March 31, 2026, down slightly from $18.7 billion recorded at the end of December 2025.
The $200 million drop represents a 1.1 percent reduction over the three month period. However, on a year on year basis, Nigeria’s exposure rose by $1.2 billion, or 6.9 percent, compared to $17.3 billion recorded in March 2025.
The latest ranking places Nigeria behind Bangladesh and Pakistan among the largest IDA borrowers globally.
According to the report, Bangladesh led with $22.7 billion, followed by Pakistan with $19.2 billion, while Nigeria ranked third with $18.5 billion.
Other African economies also featured prominently, with Ethiopia recording $14.4 billion, Tanzania $14.3 billion, and Kenya $13.2 billion in outstanding exposure.
The IDA also disclosed that total loans outstanding stood at $230.8 billion as of March 31, 2026, slightly below the $231.1 billion recorded in December 2025, indicating a marginal slowdown in overall lending activity.
It noted that loans classified under non accrual status accounted for just 0.4 percent of the total portfolio, while provisions for expected credit losses stood at $6.3 billion, representing about 2.0 percent of total exposure.
Nigeria alone accounted for about 8 percent of the IDA’s total loan portfolio and roughly 13.3 percent of the combined exposure of the institution’s ten largest borrowing countries.
The report further showed that the top ten borrowers collectively made up about 60 percent of total exposure as of March 2026, reflecting a high concentration of concessional lending among a small group of developing economies.
Despite the slight quarterly decline, Nigeria’s overall borrowing trend continues to rise over a longer period.
Between March 2025 and March 2026, exposure increased from $17.3 billion to $18.5 billion, highlighting continued reliance on concessional financing for development projects and economic reforms.
During the same period, Ethiopia’s exposure rose from $13.2 billion to $14.4 billion, Tanzania moved from $12.6 billion to $14.3 billion, Bangladesh increased from $21.2 billion to $22.7 billion, Pakistan climbed from $18.3 billion to $19.2 billion, while Ghana rose from $7.1 billion to $7.4 billion.
Nigeria’s position among the top borrowers reflects the scale of its infrastructure needs, social spending requirements, and ongoing reform financing under World Bank supported programmes.
The Federal Government is also in talks with the World Bank for additional financing.
Reports indicate that Nigeria is seeking a fresh $1.25 billion facility aimed at expanding access to finance, improving digital services, strengthening power supply, and supporting reforms in taxation, agriculture, and trade.
If approved, the loan would push total World Bank financing approvals under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to about $10.6 billion since 2023.
It would also rank among the largest recent World Bank facilities approved for Nigeria, following the $1.5 billion Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing approved in June 2024.
However, some experts have raised concerns about the country’s growing reliance on multilateral borrowing amid rising debt levels, which reportedly reached about N159 trillion in 2025.
Finance expert and senior partner at SPM Professionals, Dr Paul Alaje, warned that the debt burden ultimately falls on citizens, including future generations.
“So here is the point, as the volume increases, Nigeria has to pay more, mind you the debt they gave to us is not this year, but as of December 31 2025. So by the time we look at the one that we have retired and the new loans that have been approved and some that have been collected this year, it is clear that by the time the DMO is reporting that in the first quarter 2026, we would have crossed $160 billion. So it’s more of a burden on the economy. Whether we have the capacity to pay or not is a different kettle of fish,” he added.
