China holds $5.67bn of Nigeria's bilateral debt as Tinubu seeks $7.7bn fresh loan

Nigeria owes China $5.67 billion, making the Asian giant the country's largest bilateral creditor, according to fresh World Bank figures. The disclosure comes as President Bola Tinubu asks the National Assembly to approve $7.707 billion in new foreign borrowing to help fund the 2026 budget.

China's share works out to about 85 per cent of the $6.68 billion Nigeria owes to foreign governments, the World Bank's International Debt Report 2026 shows.

What the debt data shows

Nigeria's total external debt stock rose 6.6 per cent to $145.02 billion in 2025, from $136.05 billion in 2024. Obligations to China dwarf the $774 million owed to France, while other bilateral creditors account for $237 million.

Bilateral debt covers loans taken directly from foreign governments or their agencies, as against multilateral borrowing from institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The bilateral total sits inside Nigeria's $62.4 billion public and publicly guaranteed external debt. Multilateral creditors hold $31.37 billion of that, while private creditors account for $24.35 billion. The World Bank's International Development Association is the single largest multilateral creditor at $18.53 billion. IMF Special Drawing Rights allocations came to $5.52 billion, with other multilateral institutions holding $7.32 billion.

The wider $145.02 billion stock includes $54.48 billion in private nonguaranteed borrowing and $28.14 billion in short-term external obligations. Those categories mean the entire figure cannot be pinned on Federal Government borrowing.

Over a decade, the external debt has climbed from $83.21 billion in 2015 to $145.02 billion in 2025, a rise of roughly 74.3 per cent.

Tinubu's $7.7 billion request

The report landed as Tinubu moved to secure an additional $7.707 billion in external financing. In a letter read at Wednesday's plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the President said the borrowing would support the financing requirements of the 2026 budget.

At the budget exchange rate of N1,400 to the dollar, the request comes to about N10.79 trillion. It forms the external part of the N29.2 trillion borrowing provision in the 2026 Appropriation Act. The plan also includes N18.4 trillion to be raised domestically.

Repayment pressure builds

The World Bank flagged Nigeria's rising repayment burden. The external debt-to-exports ratio reached 212 per cent in 2025, and external debt equalled 51 per cent of Gross National Income. Debt servicing swallowed the equivalent of 19 per cent of export earnings, with the debt service-to-GNI ratio at five per cent.

Borrowing costs also differ sharply. New commitments from official creditors carried an average interest rate of 1.9 per cent, while private creditors charged 9.6 per cent.

World Bank Chief Statistician Haishan Fu warned that developing economies are increasingly borrowing at higher costs, which could leave fewer resources for long-term development.

The figures point to a familiar squeeze for Nigeria: cheap concessionary money is limited, private credit is expensive, and a larger share of export earnings is going to lenders rather than to reserves that support the naira.