Market News

Nigeria’s external debt rose to $51.90 billion as of March 31, 2026, with Eurobond investors and the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) accounting for more than 70 per cent of the country’s total foreign debt.

An analysis of data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) by Nairametrics showed that the external debt increased slightly from $51.86 billion at the end of December 2025.

However, compared with $45.98 billion recorded in March 2025, the debt rose by $5.93 billion, representing a 12.9 per cent increase in one year.

Eurobond investors are Nigeria’s biggest external creditors, with $18.55 billion owed to them. This represents 35.73 per cent of the country’s total external debt.

The World Bank’s IDA follows closely with $18.39 billion, representing 35.43 per cent of the debt.

Together, the two sources account for about 71 per cent of Nigeria’s external debt.

IDA provides relatively cheaper loans with longer repayment periods and is used to fund areas such as education, healthcare, agriculture, power, social programmes and infrastructure.

Nigeria’s third-largest external creditor is the Export-Import Bank of China, to which the country owes $4.95 billion, representing 9.54 per cent of the total external debt.

>span class="s1">Other major creditors include the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), with $1.43 billion; African Development Fund, $1.01 billion; France’s Agence Française de Développement, $902.17 million; African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), $637.82 million; and China Development Bank, $507.52 million.

The latest figures therefore highlight both sides of Nigeria’s external borrowing: access to funds for development and budget financing on one hand, and rising repayment and foreign exchange pressures on the other.