The Federal Government is in discussions with the World Bank for three new loans totalling $1.5bn, as Nigeria’s public debt rose to N166.79tn at the end of June 2026.
Documents from the World Bank show that the proposed facilities comprise $500m each for climate resilience, social protection and early childhood development.
The first facility is an additional $500m financing for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes project, known as ACReSAL.
The World Bank is expected to consider the facility on October 29, 2026. The Federal Government is the borrower, while the Federal Ministry of Environment will implement the project.
The additional financing would increase ACReSAL’s total funding from $700m to $1.2bn. The entire facility is expected to be financed by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional lending arm.
The funds would be used for landscape restoration, watershed rehabilitation, erosion and flood management, irrigation and drainage, water harvesting and storage, reforestation and other climate-resilience projects.
Of the $500m, $310m is proposed for dryland management, $165m for community climate resilience and $25m for institutional strengthening and project management.
ACReSAL currently operates in 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, focusing on land degradation, water insecurity, climate vulnerability and declining agricultural productivity.
The World Bank said desertification and land degradation affect about 43 per cent of Nigeria’s land area and warned that climate change could reduce the country’s gross domestic product by about 2.6 per cent annually by 2030 and 6.7 per cent by 2050.
The second proposed facility is a $500m credit for the Household Prosperity and Empowerment-Social Protection Project, known as HOPE-SP.
The project is still at an earlier preparation stage, with its technical design review scheduled for October 30, 2026. The World Bank has tentatively scheduled its approval for March 16, 2027.
The Federal Ministry of Finance is listed as the borrower, while the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction will implement the programme.
The facility comprises a $420m results-based component and $80m in investment project financing. The project is designed to provide regular social assistance to poor and vulnerable households, strengthen social protection systems and gradually increase funding from federal and state budgets.
It will support targeted unconditional and conditional cash transfers, modernisation of the social registry, integration of the National Identification Number into the social protection information system and stronger implementation at federal, state and local government levels.
The World Bank said Nigeria spent 0.14 per cent of its GDP on social safety-net programmes in 2021, compared with a global average of 1.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent for lower-middle-income countries.
The third proposed facility is another $500m credit for the Nigeria Early Childhood Development Programme.
The World Bank has tentatively scheduled its approval for March 15, 2027, while its technical design review is also expected on October 30, 2026.
The Federal Ministry of Finance would be the borrower, while the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is expected to implement the programme.
The project would cover all 36 states and the FCT and focus on children aged zero to five. It would provide support for health, nutrition, early learning, childcare, water and sanitation services.
The proposed financing comprises a $400m programme-for-results component and $100m in investment project financing.
The World Bank said the intervention was needed because 40 per cent of children under five were stunted, while fewer than half were developmentally on track.
Public debt rises
The proposed borrowing comes as Nigeria’s public debt increased by N14.39tn in one year, rising from N152.40tn in June 2025 to N166.79tn in June 2026, according to the Debt Management Office.
The increase represents a 9.44 per cent year-on-year rise.
In dollar terms, total public debt increased by $21.27bn, or 21.35 per cent, from $99.66bn to $120.93bn during the period.
The DMO attributed the difference partly to exchange-rate changes used in valuing the country’s external debt.
On a quarterly basis, total public debt rose by N7.44tn, or 4.67 per cent, from N159.35tn in March 2026 to N166.79tn in June.
Domestic debt stood at N91.59tn, representing 54.91 per cent of the total, while external debt was N75.20tn, or 45.09 per cent.
Federal Government domestic debt rose to N87tn in June 2026 from N76.59tn a year earlier.
Treasury bills recorded a significant increase, rising from N12.76tn in June 2025 to N19.48tn in June 2026, an increase of N6.72tn, or 52.64 per cent.
Federal Government bonds remained the largest component of domestic debt at N64.84tn.
Nigeria’s outstanding debt to the World Bank Group also rose to $20.73bn in June 2026, comprising $19.12bn owed to IDA and $1.61bn to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The World Bank Group accounted for about 38 per cent of Nigeria’s $54.52bn external debt at the end of June.
Nigeria’s multilateral debt stood at $24.76bn, while commercial debt was $23.16bn. Eurobonds accounted for $18.55bn of the commercial debt.
What analysts are saying
Economists and analysts said the terms of multilateral loans were important in assessing their impact on the economy, noting that World Bank loans were generally concessional and carried longer repayment periods.
Analysts emphasized that the effectiveness of the borrowing would depend on how the funds were utilised.
