The World Bank is preparing to greenlight a significant $500 million loan for Nigeria next month, marking a major step in the country’s development journey.
This massive financial injection is specifically designed to ramp up agricultural output and fortify the essential supply chains that connect farmers to markets across the participating states.
Based on official project blueprints released over the weekend, the target date for the final approval of this funding is set for March 30, 2026.
The project’s financial structure is straightforward, with both the “Total Operation Cost” and the “Total Financing” balanced at exactly $500 million.
The capital will be funneled through the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s wing dedicated to low-interest, concessional lending, via a dedicated $500 million credit line.
While the Federal Republic of Nigeria is officially listed as the borrower, the actual work on the ground will be a joint effort between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and various state governments.
At its heart, the plan aims to help small-scale farmers produce more and secure their place in the market. The World Bank noted that creating more and better jobs, while tackling food and nutrition insecurity, remains one of Nigeria’s most pressing development challenges.
To achieve these goals, the $500 million facility will be divided into four strategic areas of focus.
These pillars include merging smallholder farmers into profitable markets, upgrading traditional farming techniques, refining government policies to draw in private investors, and maintaining a rigorous oversight system to track the project’s success.
However, this new wave of funding arrives at a time when Nigeria’s foreign debt continues to climb. Recent figures reveal that IDA-specific funding alone jumped by $1.9 billion in a single year, hitting a total of $18.7 billion by the end of 2025.
According to the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s total external debt stood at $46.98 billion as of June 30, 2025. Of that amount, the World Bank Group accounted for $19.39 billion.