By Benson Daniel
Nigeria’s external debt stock stood at $51.90 billion as of March 31, 2026, with the bulk of the country’s foreign obligations concentrated among multilateral lenders, international bond investors and bilateral creditors.
Data from the Debt Management Office showed that the external debt stock increased marginally from $51.86 billion at the end of December 2025. However, compared with the $45.98 billion recorded in March 2025, the latest figure represents a year on year increase of about 12.9 per cent.
The figures indicate that Nigeria’s largest external debt exposure is to the World Bank’s International Development Association, which accounted for a substantial portion of the country’s foreign obligations.
Eurobond investors also represent one of Nigeria’s largest external creditors. The country’s Eurobond obligations have expanded in recent years as the Federal Government has relied on international capital markets to finance budget deficits and other government expenditure.
As of December 31, 2025, the DMO recorded $18.55 billion in outstanding Eurobond obligations, representing 35.77 per cent of Nigeria’s external debt at the time. The IDA accounted for $18.51 billion, while other World Bank Group obligations included $1.38 billion owed to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Nigeria’s exposure to the African Development Bank Group is also significant. The country owed about $2.18 billion to the African Development Bank, alongside more than $1 billion to the African Development Fund as of December 2025.
China remains Nigeria’s largest bilateral creditor. The DMO put outstanding obligations to the Export Import Bank of China at about $5.06 billion at the end of 2025, while the China Development Bank was owed a further $517.37 million.
Other bilateral creditors include France, Japan, India and Germany. Nigeria owed approximately $911.43 million to France’s Agence Française de Développement, $130.84 million to the Japan International Cooperation Agency, $113.38 million to Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau and $13.38 million to the Export Import Bank of India.
Beyond conventional bilateral and multilateral loans, Nigeria also has syndicated project loans and obligations to international financial institutions. The DMO reported $2.51 billion in syndicated project loans as of December 2025, while other commercial obligations included exposures to Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UniCredit.
The concentration of Nigeria’s external debt among a relatively small number of creditors highlights the importance of debt servicing in the country’s fiscal planning. Multilateral loans generally carry more favourable terms than commercial borrowing, while Eurobonds expose the country to international market conditions, refinancing risks and movements in global interest rates.
The rise in external obligations also comes as the government continues to seek additional financing for infrastructure, economic development and budget implementation.
Despite the increase in the dollar value of external debt, the latest quarterly movement was relatively small, rising by only about $48 million between December 2025 and March 2026. This suggests that the major increase in Nigeria’s external debt occurred over the preceding year rather than during the first quarter of 2026.
With external debt now above $51 billion, the government faces the challenge of balancing borrowing needs with debt sustainability. Stronger revenue generation, improved export earnings and more productive use of borrowed funds will remain critical to ensuring that rising debt obligations do not place additional pressure on public finances.
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