President Bola Tinubu has requested the Senate to approve a new external borrowing plan of about $21.5 billion as part of the 2025-2026 borrowing plan.
The president also sought the approval of the senate for a loan request of 15 billion Japanese Yen and 51 million Euros grant.
Tinubu’s request is contained in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and read at plenary on Tuesday.
Tinubu, in the letter, said, “Following the removal of the first fuel subsidy and its impact on the national economy, approval is sought for the external building plan.
“I want to emphasise that the projects and programmes included in the plan were selected based on technical and economic evaluations and the anticipated contributions to the socioeconomic development of the country”.
Skill acquisition, poverty reduction, and food security top agenda for laon
He explained that the initiatives were aimed at generating employment, promoting skill acquisition, fostering entrepreneurship, reducing poverty, and enhancing food security.
The President added that the majority of the projects and programmes would be implemented across the 36 states of the country.
He noted that amid declining domestic funding, it had become essential to pursue prudent external borrowing, saying that a vast financial resource was needed to address the infrastructure gap across the country.
“These funds will primarily be directed towards critical infrastructure projects, including sectors in power, railways, and healthcare, among others.
”Given the urgent nature of business and the importance of stabilising the economy, it is therefore crucial to seek approval of the distinguished senate for the 2025-2026 external borrowing plan.
“This will enable the government to fulfill its obligations to the Nigerian people through timely and effective project implementation,” he said.
Akpabio thereafter referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further legislative inputs and to revert to plenary within two weeks.
What you should know
Nigeria recently announced the full repayment of the $3.4 billion emergency loan obtained in 2020 from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The loan, taken under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was meant to cushion the economy against the oil price crash and recession risk.
The IMF has confirmed that Nigeria no longer appears on its list of debtor countries. Nigeria has also never taken an IMF bailout loan.
Nigeria still owes a total of N74.38 trillion in domestic debt and $44.9 billion in external debt as of December 2024.
This is based on the most recent data published by the Debt Management Office (DMO), which has yet to publish the data for the first quarter of 2025.
As of December 2024, total foreign debt stood at $44.9 billion, with the top five creditors being:
- Eurobond holders – $17.32 billion
- World Bank (IDA) – $16.56 billion
- Exim Bank of China – $5.06 billion
- African Development Bank (AfDB) – $2.10 billion
- IBRD (World Bank) – $1.24 billion
