By Nworisa Michael
Nigeria is set to obtain a fresh $500 million loan from the World Bank, even as concerns continue to mount over the country’s growing external debt burden.
According to official project documents, the proposed facility is scheduled for approval on March 30, 2026. The loan will be financed through the concessional lending arm of the World Bank, the International Development Association (IDA), under a credit arrangement.
The borrower is listed as the Federal Republic of Nigeria, while implementation of the programme will be handled by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with participating state governments.
The project is designed to improve smallholder farmer productivity and strengthen selected agricultural value chains across participating states. It also seeks to tackle food and nutrition insecurity while creating sustainable employment opportunities.
According to the World Bank, the programme will focus on four major components:
Integrating smallholder farmers into competitive agricultural value chains.
Modernising production systems.
Strengthening policy and regulatory frameworks to attract private investment in input markets.
Enhancing coordination, monitoring and effective project implementation.
The planned borrowing comes at a time when Nigeria’s external debt stock continues to rise.
Recent figures indicate that funding from the International Development Association increased by $1.9 billion within one year, reaching $18.7 billion as of December 31, 2025.
Data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) show that Nigeria’s total external debt stood at $46.98 billion as of June 30, 2025. Of this amount, the World Bank Group accounted for $19.39 billion.
While the Federal Government maintains that concessional loans are critical to funding development projects, analysts warn that sustained borrowing without proportional revenue growth could heighten fiscal pressure in the long term.
The proposed $500 million facility is therefore expected to spark renewed debate over Nigeria’s debt sustainability and development financing strategy.