Nigeria retained its position as the International Development Association’s third-largest borrower in the first quarter of 2026 despite recording a slight decline in its exposure to the World Bank’s concessional lending arm.

Data from the IDA’s latest March 2026 financial statements showed that Nigeria’s exposure fell to $18.5 billion as of March 31, 2026, from $18.7 billion at the end of December 2025. This represents a decline of $200 million or 1.1 percent over the three-month period.

However, on a year-on-year basis, Nigeria’s debt exposure increased by $1.2 billion, or 6.9 percent, from $17.3 billion recorded in March 2025. This shows the country’s continued dependence on concessional financing from the World Bank.

The latest ranking places Nigeria behind only Bangladesh and Pakistan among the World Bank’s largest IDA borrowers.

According to the IDA’s country exposure data, Bangladesh remained the institution’s largest borrower with an exposure of $22.7 billion as of March 2026. Pakistan followed at $19.2 billion, while Nigeria ranked third with $18.5 billion. Ethiopia came next with $14.4 billion, Tanzania with $14.3 billion, and Kenya with $13.2 billion.

The quarter-on-quarter decline in Nigeria’s exposure mirrors a broader moderation in the World Bank’s lending portfolio. Total loans outstanding at the IDA stood at $230.8 billion as of March 31, 2026, slightly lower than the $231.1 billion recorded at the end of December 2025.

The institution said loans in non-accrual status represented only 0.4 percent of the portfolio, while provisions for potential loan losses amounted to $6.3 billion, equivalent to 2.0 percent of underlying exposures.

Nigeria’s exposure accounted for approximately 8.0 percent of the combined $230.8 billion loan portfolio and about 13.3 percent of the $139.6 billion exposure represented by the IDA’s ten largest borrowing countries.

The IDA noted that its ten largest country exposures accounted for 60 percent of total portfolio exposure as of March 31, 2026. This highlights the concentration of lending among a relatively small group of developing economies.

While Nigeria’s debt burden eased marginally in the first quarter of 2026, the longer-term trend remains upward.

IDA records show that Nigeria’s exposure increased from $17.3 billion in March 2025 to $18.5 billion in March 2026. This reflects an annual increase of $1.2 billion and places Nigeria among the countries that expanded their utilisation of concessional financing over the period.

Among Africa’s largest IDA borrowers, Ethiopia’s exposure climbed from $13.2 billion to $14.4 billion, while Tanzania’s increased from $12.6 billion to $14.3 billion during the same period.

Bangladesh’s exposure rose from $21.2 billion to $22.7 billion, while Pakistan’s increased from $18.3 billion to $19.2 billion. Ghana’s exposure also grew from $7.1 billion to $7.4 billion.

Despite these movements, Nigeria maintained its third-place ranking. This reflects both the scale of its development financing needs and its longstanding access to concessional resources under the World Bank’s low-income lending framework.

The Federal Government is engaging the World Bank for a fresh $1.25 billion loan under a proposed programme aimed at expanding access to finance, digital services, electricity, and supporting reforms in tax, trade and agriculture.

The proposed $1.25 billion deal comes after about $9.35 billion in World Bank loan approvals for Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu between June 2023 and May 2026.

If approved in June, the new facility would raise total World Bank approvals under the current administration to about $10.6 billion.

The loan would also become the second-largest single World Bank loan approved for Nigeria under President Tinubu, after the $1.5 billion Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing approved in June 2024.

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, earlier warned that Nigeria may decline or withdraw from World Bank loan arrangements if approval and disbursement processes continue to suffer prolonged delays.

The AGF stressed that funds being sought from the World Bank were loans, not grants, and said Nigeria, as a responsible borrower, deserved timely consideration and processing of its funding requests.

Ogunjimi urged the World Bank to speed up approval processes and ensure prompt release of project funds meant to support Nigeria’s development priorities.