Federal Government Seeks Fresh $1.5bn World Bank Loans

The federal government has opened talks with the World Bank for three new loans totalling $1.5bn to fund climate resilience, social protection and early childhood development programmes.
World Bank documents show the financing is made up of three separate $500m facilities.
The first to go before the Bank’s board is a $500m additional financing for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project. The board is expected to consider it on October 29, 2026. Nigeria is the borrower, and the Federal Ministry of Environment is the implementing agency.
The new money would raise ACReSAL’s size from the approved $700m to $1.2bn, all of it from the International Development Association (IDA), the Bank’s concessional lending arm. It is expected to support land restoration, flood and erosion control, irrigation and water management.
The early childhood development project would cover all 36 states and the FCT. It would give children aged zero to five access to an integrated package of health, nutrition, early learning, childcare, and water and sanitation services. It would be financed by a $500m IDA credit.
The third facility, also $500m, is for social protection, aimed at supporting vulnerable households.
Economist Adewale Abimbola said the key question is not whether Nigeria should borrow, but how the funds are deployed.
The proposals are still subject to World Bank approval and should not be treated as disbursed loans.