Nigeria has retained its position as the third-largest borrower from the International Development Association, the concessional lending arm of the World Bank, despite a slight decline in its debt exposure in the first quarter of 2026.
According to the IDA’s March 2026 financial statements, Nigeria’s exposure stood at $18.5 billion as of March 31, 2026, down marginally from $18.7 billion recorded at the end of December 2025.
The latest ranking places Nigeria behind Bangladesh, which remained the institution’s largest borrower with an exposure of $22.7 billion, followed by Pakistan at $19.2 billion, and then Nigeria at $18.5 billion. Ethiopia followed with $14.4 billion, Tanzania with $14.3 billion, and Kenya with $13.2 billion.
On a year-on-year basis, Nigeria’s debt exposure increased significantly by $1.2 billion, or 6.9 percent, from $17.3 billion recorded in March 2025 reflecting the country’s continued and deepening dependence on concessional financing from the World Bank.
Nigeria’s debt exposure alone accounted for approximately eight percent of the IDA’s total loan portfolio and about 13.3 percent of the combined exposure represented by the institution’s ten largest borrowing countries.
The World Bank noted that the top ten borrowing nations collectively accounted for 60 percent of the IDA’s total exposure, underlining the concentration of concessional lending among a relatively small group of developing economies.
Nigeria was followed in the rankings by Ethiopia at $14.4 billion, Tanzania at $14.3 billion, Kenya at $13.2 billion, and India at $12.4 billion. Vietnam recorded $10.8 billion, while Ghana and Ukraine posted exposures of $7.4 billion and $6.7 billion respectively.
The IDA’s total loans outstanding stood at $230.8 billion as of March 31, 2026, slightly below the $231.1 billion recorded at the end of December 2025, reflecting mild moderation in the institution’s overall lending portfolio.
Nigeria’s 36 states, meanwhile, paid a combined ₦455.38 billion in foreign debt service deductions in 2025, according to Federation Account Allocation Committee figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, a figure that illustrates the debt burden’s penetration to the subnational level and the real fiscal pressure it places on state governments.
