The North-East emerged as the biggest clearly identifiable regional beneficiary of African Development Bank-backed projects in Nigeria, while South-East infrastructure projects lagged in disbursement despite lean approvals.

This is according to the AfDB’s 2025 Country Portfolio Performance Review for Nigeria, which assessed the bank’s project performance, disbursement trends and implementation challenges as of December 2025.

The report shows that AfDB’s Nigeria portfolio rose to $6.2 billion across 53 operations, covering all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with projects spanning transport, energy, water, agriculture, health, education and private-sector support.

The North-East-linked Inclusive Basic Service Delivery and Livelihood Empowerment Programme was the largest clearly identifiable regional project in the review, with a total value of $259.5 million.

The programme covered Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba states, delivering social services and livelihood support during the review period.

The programme delivered water, sanitation, health, education, nutrition, MSME, women agribusiness and livelihood interventions across the beneficiary states.

The report listed 45 of 60 health facilities as either completed or at advanced stages of implementation, while more than 18,000 pupils received school furniture, uniforms and learning kits.

It also reported support for 1,105 MSME start-ups, 1,507 women-led agribusiness groups, and cash transfers or productive assets to 3,268 vulnerable individuals.

By contrast, clearly identifiable South-East projects had combined approvals of about $171.3 million, but only $30.93 million had been disbursed as of December 2025, raising questions about equity.

The South-East figure was driven largely by the Ebonyi State Ring Road Project, which had disbursed about $29.6 million out of its $54.6 million approval, while the $115 million Abia State Integrated Infrastructure Project had disbursed only about $0.13 million.

The South-East portfolio shows a wide gap between approvals and actual disbursements.

Abia’s Integrated Infrastructure Project had $100 million from the ADB window and $15 million from CACF, but disbursement stood at $0.1 million and $0.03 million, respectively, as of December 2025.

The Abia State Integrated Infrastructure Study had a stronger performance, with $1.7 million approved and $1.2 million disbursed, representing a 73.7% disbursement rate.

The Ebonyi State Ring Road Project had two financing windows: $31.2 million under ADB and $23.4 million under AGTF, with disbursement rates of 53.6% and 54.9%, respectively.

Imo was listed under the $210 million Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Phase I programme, but its Design, Build and Operate contract award was expected in Q2 2026.

Enugu also benefitted from the AESTAP technical assistance programme for implementation of the Electricity Act 2023, though the cost was not broken down by state.

According to the bank, its Nigeria portfolio had an overall disbursement rate of 53% as of December 2025, while flagged operations declined from 42% in January 2025 to 25% in December 2025.

“Flagged operations” in AfDB terminology refers to projects rated as Problem Projects or Potentially Problem Projects, those identified as being at risk of not meeting their development objectives on time, within budget, or in compliance with fiduciary and safeguard requirements.

The decline from 42% of the portfolio being flagged in January 2025 to 25% in December 2025 means that the proportion of at-risk projects fell by 17 percentage points in a single year.

In dollar terms, this is a significant reduction in the share of a $6.2 billion portfolio that is under stress.

The report said this improvement followed closer monitoring by the AfDB, the Federal Ministry of Finance and project executing agencies.

This is in spite of obvious drags with projects for the South East region, particularly, those for Imo State.

At the CPPR exchange rate of $1 = N1,473, the South-East’s clearly identifiable project approvals translate to about N252.3 billion, while the actual amount disbursed stood at about N45.6 billion.

The findings show that AfDB approvals do not automatically translate into project delivery.

The report published in March this year, repeatedly identified start-up delays, counterpart funding constraints, procurement issues, and disbursement challenges as bottlenecks affecting implementation across the portfolio.

The South-East had sizeable infrastructure approvals, but most of the approved financing had not yet been converted into executed works or services.

The North-East, on the other hand, recorded stronger visible outcomes because the Inclusive Programme had moved further into implementation.

The Abia project’s low disbursement highlights the challenge faced by newly approved state-level infrastructure projects before major works can begin.

The report also warned that the unavailability of counterpart funding was compromising the implementation of major ongoing projects, particularly in the energy sector.

This makes disbursement performance a key measure of impact, especially for regions where infrastructure gaps remain significant despite large multilateral approvals.

In November 2025, AfDB approved a $500 million loan to the Federal Government of Nigeria to finance the second phase of the Economic Governance and Energy Transition Support Programme, bringing the AfDB’s active portfolio in Nigeria to about 53 projects valued at $6.2 billion.

The report claimed Nigeria portfolio recorded improvement with 53% disbursement rate following closer monitoring by the AfDB, the Federal Ministry of Finance and project executing agencies.

The Ebonyi Ring Road Project has a completion date of November 30, 2026, according to the portfolio annex.

The Abia State Integrated Infrastructure Project has a completion date of April 30, 2029, suggesting that major implementation is still expected to run for several years.

The Inclusive Basic Service Delivery and Livelihood Empowerment Programme has a completion date of December 31, 2027.

The SAPZ Phase I programme, which includes Imo as a participating state, has a completion date of December 31, 2028.

Overall, the report indicates that the North-East recorded the strongest identifiable project delivery during the review period, while the South-East’s challenge was not the absence of approvals but the slow conversion of approved financing into disbursed funds and physical infrastructure.