Nigeria to borrow $6 billion from foreign institutions

Nigeria is set to borrow at least $6 billion from foreign financial institutions to tackle economic and infrastructural challenges.

The two chambers of the legislature, the National Assembly, approved President Bola Tinubu’s requests for the foreign loans during separate sittings on Tuesday, 31 March.

Local media reported that, in his letters, President Tinubu sought approval to borrow $5 billion from First Abu Dhabi Bank and an additional $1 billion from the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF).

The Nigerian government says much of the money will be used to support the country’s $49.4 billion 2026 budget, which was also approved by the legislators on Tuesday, while parts of the loans will be channelled towards rehabilitation of two major ports located in Lagos.

Approved within hours

The lawmakers gave the go-ahead within hours of receiving the requests from President Tinubu, prompting criticism from some quarters.

Former vice president and opposition leader Atiku Abubakar expressed concern over the implications of the debts on the economy, saying such decisions should not be treated by the lawmakers “without due diligence”.

However, the Nigerian government has defended the fresh multi-billion-dollar external borrowing.

President Tinubu said “the rehabilitation of the ports project is a strategic modernisation initiative” by his administration. He described the Tin Can Island Port complex and Lagos Port complex as Nigeria’s “most vital ports” but they have now reached “critical engineering failures”, necessitating their planned rehabilitation.

The move to secure external loans, including from the UK, comes barely two weeks after President Tinubu visited London, where Britain and Nigeria signed a deal worth nearly $1 billion for the ports upgrade by a British company.

Reforms drive

According to data from Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, which is a government agency, the country’s total outstanding government debt, both domestic and foreign, was $103.9 billion as of September 2025. That was about $15 billion higher than the total a year earlier.

Since coming to power after winning an election in 2023, President Tinubu has vowed to transform Nigeria’s economy, one of the largest in Africa, including better management of the critical oil sector, infrastructural development and reducing poverty and unemployment.

Nigeria is less than a year away from its next presidential elections, with President Tinubu widely expected to seek a second term in office, and the economy will remain one of the key campaign issues.