Nigeria’s liabilities to the World Bank and the African Development Bank rose from $7.14bn to $14.25bn between June 30, 2015 and March 31, 2021, data obtained from the Debt Management Office have shown.
This means that the commitment of the banks to the country rose by $7.11bn within the period under review. This represents an increase of 98.48 per cent.
As of June 30, 2015, the Federal Government had borrowed a total sum of $6.19bn from the World Bank.
A breakdown of the group’s portfolio in the country shows that a greater part of the loans was obtained from the International Development Association, an arm of the World Bank that specialises in giving concessional loans to poor and fragile countries.
The IDA commitment to Nigeria amounted to $6.09bn.
Another member of the group, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, had a commitment of $94.80m in the country.
Similarly, at the same time, the AfDB commitment to the country stood at $946.52m, comprising loans from various internal bodies such as the African Development Bank and African Development Fund.
Most of the loans from the World Bank and the AfDB were tied to a programme or infrastructure project.
On December 14 2020, for instance, the World Bank approved a $1.5bn loan to Nigeria, earmarked for two projects: Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme and The State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability Programme.
