How Nigeria Became Africa’s Highest World Bank Debtor

By Tolulope Oke

Nigeria now tops the list of countries in Africa to owe the International Development Association (IDA) according to the World Bank.

Nigeria climbed up to fourth place on the list in the recently released World Bank Fiscal Year 2022 audited financial records for IDA, with a $13 billion IDA debt stock as of June 30, 2022.

As of last year, Nigeria was fifth on the global list, with an $11 billion IDA debt stock, indicating an increase of $1.3 billion according to the new financial audit.

India tops the list, although with a reduced IDA debt stock from $22bn in the previous fiscal year to $19.7bn, followed by Bangladesh from $18.1bn to $18bn.

Pakistan follows through, although with a cut of its debt from $16.4bn to $15.8bn, then Nigeria with a $13 billion stock debt. Then, Vietnam which cut its IDA debt from $14 billion to $12 billion became fifth.

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From all indications, Nigeria Nigeria has the highest IDA debt in Africa due to the fact that the top three IDA borrowers are from Asia (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan).

Recently, the World Bank revealed that Nigeria’s debt, while potentially manageable for the time being, is risky and expensive.

The international financial organization based in Washington did warn that in the event of macro-fiscal shocks, the country’s debt also ran the risk of becoming unsustainable.