Nigeria Remains Third Largest IDA Borrower Despite Marginal Q1 Debt Decline
By Aboki Forex —
Nigeria held its position as the International Development Association’s third largest borrower in the first quarter of 2026, even as its exposure to the World Bank’s concessional lending arm dipped slightly. Data from the IDA’s March 2026 financial statements show Nigeria’s exposure fell to $18.5 billion as of March 31, down from $18.7 billion at the end of December 2025. That is a decline of $200 million or 1.1% over three months.
Year on year debt still climbing
Despite the quarterly drop, Nigeria’s debt burden grew by $1.2 billion or 6.9% compared to March 2025, when it stood at $17.3 billion. This shows the country’s continued reliance on cheap financing from the World Bank. The latest ranking places Nigeria behind only Bangladesh at $22.7 billion and Pakistan at $19.2 billion. Ethiopia followed with $14.4 billion, Tanzania with $14.3 billion, and Kenya with $13.2 billion.
What the IDA data shows
The quarter on quarter decline mirrors a broader slowdown in the World Bank’s lending portfolio. Total loans outstanding at the IDA stood at $230.8 billion as of March 31, 2026, slightly lower than $231.1 billion at the end of December 2025. Loans in non accrual status made up only 0.4% of the portfolio, while provisions for potential losses hit $6.3 billion, or 2.0% of underlying exposures. Nigeria’s exposure accounted for about 8.0% of the total loan portfolio and roughly 13.3% of the $139.6 billion held by the IDA’s ten largest borrowers. The IDA noted that its ten largest country exposures made up 60% of total portfolio exposure as of March 31, highlighting how concentrated lending is among a few developing economies.
Debt exposure still up 6.9% year on year
While Nigeria’s debt eased slightly in Q1, the longer term trend remains upward. IDA records show Nigeria’s exposure rose from $17.3 billion in March 2025 to $18.5 billion in March 2026, an annual increase of $1.2 billion. Among Africa’s largest IDA borrowers, Ethiopia’s exposure climbed from $13.2 billion to $14.4 billion, while Tanzania’s rose from $12.6 billion to $14.3 billion. Bangladesh’s exposure increased from $21.2 billion to $22.7 billion, and Pakistan’s from $18.3 billion to $19.2 billion. Ghana’s exposure also grew from $7.1 billion to $7.4 billion. Nigeria kept its third place ranking, reflecting both the scale of its development financing needs and its long standing access to concessional resources under the World Bank’s low income lending framework.
What you should know
The Federal Government is engaging the World Bank for a fresh $1.25 billion loan under a proposed programme aimed at expanding access to finance, digital services, electricity, and supporting reforms in tax, trade and agriculture. This proposed deal comes after about $9.35 billion in World Bank loan approvals for Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu between June 2023 and May 2026. If approved in June, the new facility would raise total World Bank approvals under the current administration to about $10.6 billion. It would also become the second largest single World Bank loan approved for Nigeria under President Tinubu, after the $1.5 billion Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing approved in June 2024. The Accountant General of the Federation, Dr Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, recently warned that Nigeria may decline or withdraw from World Bank loan arrangements if approval and disbursement processes continue to suffer prolonged delays. Ogunjimi stressed that the funds being sought are loans, not grants, and said Nigeria, as a responsible borrower, deserves timely consideration and processing of its funding requests. He urged the World Bank to speed up approval processes and ensure prompt release of project funds meant to support Nigeria’s development priorities.