Nigeria has retained its position as the third-largest borrower from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), with total exposure rising to $18.7 billion at the end of 2025.
According to IDA’s latest management analysis report for December 31, 2025, seen on Friday, the exposure increased from $18.5 billion recorded in September 2025. IDA is the concessional lending arm of the World Bank Group that provides low-interest loans and grants to low-income countries.
The report shows that Bangladesh leads the top 10 countries with an exposure of $23 billion, followed by Pakistan at $19.4 billion, while Nigeria ranks third with $18.7 billion. Ethiopia and Tanzania are tied at fourth position with $14.1 billion each, while Kenya, with $13.2 billion, and India, with $13 billion, rank sixth and seventh.
Vietnam’s exposure stood at $11.0 billion (eighth), Ghana at $7.5 billion (ninth), and Ukraine occupied the 10th position with $6.7 billion.
IDA said the 10 countries with the highest exposures accounted for 60 percent of its total exposure as of the end of 2025, underscoring the concentration of lending among a small group of borrowers.
“As of December 31, 2025, IDA had $231.1 billion of loans outstanding, of which loans in non-accrual status represent 0.4%,” the report reads.
“IDA’s accumulated provision for losses on loans and other exposures was $6.2billion, which represents a provisioning rate of 2.0% of the underlying exposures as of December 31, 2025 ($6.2 billion as of June 30, 2025, 2.0% of the underlying exposure.”
The report added that the single borrower limit (SBL) was set at $51 billion for full year (FY) 2026, equivalent to 25 percent of its $204.2 billion equity as of June 30, 2025.
However, the institution noted that the SBL is currently not a constraining factor for borrowing countries.
IDA said it continues to monitor country exposures relative to the SBL, taking into account repayment profiles of existing loans, disbursement trends, and projected new lending and guarantees.
In the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said Nigeria’s public debt rose to N153 trillion,
domestic debt was N81.81 trillion ($55.47 billion), while the total external debt was N71.47 trillion ($48.46 billion).
The office said the federal government accounted for the bulk of domestic debt, which rose to N77.81 trillion by Q3 2025, from N76.58 trillion in Q2.
More so, Wale Edun, the minister of finance, had said the country would no longer rely on loans but focus on driving investment. According to him, it was time for Nigeria to increase domestic revenue and avoid debts.