The World Bank has approved $300 million in financing for Nigeria to strengthen resilience and expand access to essential services for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and their host communities in Northern Nigeria.
In a statement on Monday, World Bank Nigeria said the approval, granted on August 7, 2025, will fund the Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project (SOLID), targeting selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) most affected by conflict-driven displacement.
The project is expected to benefit up to 7.4 million people, including about 1.3 million IDPs, by adopting an integrated development strategy aligned with Nigeria’s long-term development vision.
According to the Bank, ongoing conflict and insecurity in the region have displaced over 3.5 million people, putting significant strain on local infrastructure and services in areas where IDPs have settled. The influx has heightened competition for scarce resources, limited livelihood opportunities, and increased vulnerability to natural disasters such as flooding, while local governments struggle to meet the needs of both residents and displaced populations.
Building on an earlier World Bank-funded project
The SOLID project will build on the Nigerian government’s existing initiatives, previous international interventions, and the earlier Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP), which focused on short-term recovery.
It will focus on developing and maintaining climate-resilient infrastructure, promoting social cohesion and community resilience through participatory planning and economic cooperatives, supporting livelihoods to enable economic activities for both IDPs and host communities, and strengthening institutions to respond to demographic pressures caused by displacement.
“We are glad to support this initiative which has a tremendous potential to help Nigeria in addressing development challenges associated with protracted displacement in a sustainable way,” said Mathew Verghis, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria. “The Project’s integrated approach, aligned with the National IDP Policy and the Federal Government’s long-term vision, will ensure that IDPs and host communities can transition from dependency on humanitarian assistance to self-reliance and resilience, opening up better economic opportunities.”
The Bank noted that the project will be implemented through a coordinated, community-driven approach involving all tiers of government, with strong collaboration from international stakeholders.
Task Team Leaders Fuad Malkawi and Christopher Johnson described the initiative as central to addressing the enduring displacement crisis in Northern Nigeria, highlighting its role in tackling infrastructure gaps and service delivery challenges in already strained host communities.
They added that targeted livelihoods support under the project will help displaced and host populations achieve sustainable economic outcomes, facilitating the region’s transition from crisis response to stability, resilience, and inclusive growth.
What you should know
Nigeria’s total debt to the World Bank rose to $18.23 billion as of March 31, 2025, according to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO). This represents a $420 million increase in just three months from $17.81 billion recorded in December 2024.
The rise was driven by higher borrowings from the International Development Association (IDA), the concessional lending arm of the World Bank, which climbed from $16.56 billion in December 2024 to $16.99 billion in March 2025. Meanwhile, loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the institution’s non-concessional lending window, remained unchanged at $1.24 billion.
The World Bank Group now accounts for 39.7% of Nigeria’s total external debt stock, which stood at $45.98 billion in Q1 2025. This is a slight increase from 38.9% in December 2024 and 36.4% at the end of 2023.
Further analysis shows that the Bank constitutes 81.2% of Nigeria’s total multilateral debt, which reached $22.43 billion in the first quarter of 2025. This is up from 79.8% at the end of 2024, highlighting the World Bank’s central role in Nigeria’s external financing structure.
