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The Federal Government is seeking $1.5 billion in fresh financing from the World Bank through three proposed loans targeted at social protection, early childhood development and climate resilience.
Documents obtained from the World Bank show that the three facilities, each worth $500 million, are at different stages of preparation, with the earliest expected to go before the Bank’s board in October 2026.
The first is an additional $500 million credit for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes project, known as ACReSAL.
The World Bank has scheduled the financing for board consideration on October 29, 2026.
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The other proposed facilities are the $500 million Nigeria Early Childhood Development programme, expected to be approved on March 15, 2027, and the $500 million Household Prosperity and Empowerment – Social Protection Project, or HOPE-SP, scheduled for March 16, 2027.
All three facilities are proposed as credits from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), bringing their combined value to $1.5 billion.
$500 million for climate resilience
The ACReSAL financing is an expansion of an existing $700 million project approved in December 2021. If approved, the additional credit will raise total World Bank financing for the programme to $1.2 billion.
- According to the appraisal document, “The Government of Nigeria has requested AF of $500 million to scale up demonstrated project results and strengthen the institutional, operational and financing arrangements needed to sustain integrated landscape management.”
Of the additional financing, $310 million is proposed for dryland management, $165 million for community climate resilience and $25 million for institutional strengthening and project management.
The programme operates across 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, tackling land degradation, water insecurity, climate vulnerability and declining agricultural productivity.
$500 million for early childhood development
The second facility is a proposed $500 million IDA credit for Nigeria’s Early Childhood Development programme.
The project is designed to increase access to an integrated package of services for children aged zero to five and their caregivers across all 36 states and the FCT. The programme will cover health, nutrition, early learning, childcare and related interventions.
World Bank data show that the entire $500 million operation is expected to be financed through an IDA credit, with no financing gap.
The Bank said 40 per cent of Nigerian children under five are stunted, fewer than half are developmentally on track, while only 36 per cent of children aged between 36 and 59 months attend organised early learning.
Social protection gets another $500 million
The third proposed loan, HOPE-SP, is intended to establish a more sustainable social assistance system for poor and vulnerable households.
The $500 million IDA credit will support targeted conditional and unconditional cash transfers, strengthen social protection institutions and gradually shift financing from external sources towards federal and state budgets.
The World Bank estimates that 62.5 per cent of Nigerians could be living in poverty in 2026, compared with 40 per cent in 2019 and 56 per cent in 2023.
The project documents remain preparatory, meaning the proposed credits are not yet approved loans. If all three secure final approval at their currently scheduled dates, they would add another $1.5 billion to Nigeria’s World Bank-backed financing pipeline.
What you should know
Earlier in July 2026, Nairametrics reported that the World Bank has approved a $1.25 billion Development Policy Financing loan for Nigeria despite widespread public criticism over the country’s rising debt profile, as it unveiled a new six-year partnership strategy aimed at accelerating private sector-led growth and job creation.
- The approval came days after a number of Nigerians criticised the proposed facility on social media, questioning the country’s growing reliance on external borrowing and demanding greater accountability over previous World Bank loans.
- Nigeria’s total public debt stock rose to N166.79 trillion as of June 30, 2026, from N159.35 trillion as of March 31, 2026, with domestic debt accounting for N91.59 trillion, or 54.91% of the total debt portfolio.
The latest figures released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) put Nigeria’s total public debt at $120.93 billion in US dollar terms, comprising $54.52 billion in external debt and $66.41 billion in domestic debt.
Nigeria’s total external debt rose from $42.49 billion in December 2023 to $51.86 billion by December 2025, while domestic debt increased from N59.1 trillion to N89.4 trillion within the same period.
