The Federal Government is turning to the World Bank for another $1.5bn to tackle poverty, childhood deprivation and climate vulnerability, even as Nigeria’s public debt stock climbs to N166.79tn.
The proposed borrowing, however, is not one $1.5bn facility. It consists of three separate $500m International Development Association credits targeting social protection, early childhood development and climate resilience.
The fresh financing would further increase Nigeria’s exposure to the World Bank Group, which stood at $20.73bn as of June 2026.
The proposed loans come as the country’s public debt has risen by N79.41tn in three years, from N87.38tn in June 2023 to N166.79tn in June 2026.
The new World Bank facilities are being proposed against a difficult development backdrop, with the lender projecting that 62.5 per cent of Nigerians could be living below the national poverty line in 2026.
Under the first $500m facility, the Household Prosperity and Empowerment-Social Protection Project, or HOPE-SP, the government plans to expand cash transfers and other support for poor and vulnerable households.
The programme will also seek to modernise Nigeria’s social registry, link it with the National Identification Number system and strengthen social protection delivery by federal, state and local governments.
The World Bank said Nigeria spent only 0.14 per cent of its GDP on social safety-net programmes in 2021, compared with a global average of 1.5 per cent.
Another $500m is earmarked for early childhood development, covering children from birth to five years across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The World Bank said 40 per cent of Nigerian children under five are stunted, while fewer than half are developmentally on track.
Only 36 per cent of children aged 36 to 59 months attend organised early learning, according to the lender.
The third $500m is designed to strengthen climate resilience through the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes project, ACReSAL.
The additional financing would raise ACReSAL’s total funding from $700m to $1.2bn and expand interventions across 19 northern states and the FCT.
The project will fund dryland management, flood and erosion control, water harvesting, irrigation, reforestation, agroforestry and other measures aimed at protecting vulnerable communities from climate-related shocks.
The World Bank estimates that desertification and land degradation affect 43 per cent of Nigeria’s land area.
The three facilities are expected to be considered separately by the World Bank, with ACReSAL scheduled for board consideration on October 29, 2026, while the other two projects have tentative approval dates in March 2027.
The proposed financing therefore places two competing realities side by side: a government seeking fresh resources to address deepening social and environmental challenges, and a country carrying a rapidly expanding debt burden.
At the end of June 2026, the World Bank Group accounted for about 38 per cent of Nigeria’s $54.52bn external debt, with IDA alone accounting for roughly 35 per cent.