Nigeria to spend $11.6bn on debt servicing in 2026 — Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria will spend about $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026, representing nearly half of the country’s projected revenue, as he called for urgent reforms to the global financial system.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, Tinubu said African economies were being constrained by what he described as a global financial architecture that limits access to affordable capital and weakens industrial growth across the continent.
“The international financial architecture, as currently constituted, is an instrument of industrial disarmament for Africa,” the President said during his address at the summit co-hosted by Emmanuel Macron and William Ruto.
Tinubu stated that despite Nigeria’s recent economic reforms, high borrowing costs continue to place pressure on the country’s industrial ambitions.
“In 2026, Nigeria will spend about US$11.6 billion on debt service — nearly half of projected revenue,” he said.
“Every single dollar that leaves our treasury to pay punitive interest rates is a dollar that did not go into our steel sector, our textile mills, our agro-processing plants, or our digital industries.”
The President said Nigeria had implemented major economic measures, including the removal of fuel subsidies, exchange rate unification, bank recapitalisation and efforts to strengthen investor confidence.
According to him, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to decline to 32.3 per cent in 2026, while external reserves have risen to $45.5 billion.
