Nigeria’s external debt service obligations increased substantially to $1.08bn in the fourth quarter of 2024, a significant rise over the previous quarter.
The Debt Management Office just released new numbers revealing this.
Earlier, THE POINT had reported that Nigeria’s total debt servicing costs reached N3.57 trillion in Q3 2024, a rise of N60 billion or 1.71% from the N3.51 trillion recorded in Q2.
The report, which disaggregates external debt service payments by creditor categories, indicated that multilateral loans formed the bulk of the Q4 payments, followed by commercial and bilateral debts.
Nigeria paid a total of $600.71 million to multilateral lenders, accounting for 55.7% of the total.
The International Monetary Fund received the largest share at $407.97 million.
Other noteworthy payouts consist of African Development Bank (AfDB): $43.89 million, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): $14.48 million, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB): $5.83 million, and International Development Association (IDA): $116.48 million.
Payments to commercial lenders stood at $430.53 million, or 39.9% of the total, Eurobond repayments alone were $148.57 million and a further $280.16 million was paid on syndicated loans.
Smaller payments went to (UniCredit S.P.A: $1.54 million, Standard Chartered Bank: $144k, Deutsche Bank AG: $108k).
Bilateral Creditors (Nigeria serviced $46.85 million in bilateral debt, making up 4.3% of the total, France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD) received $33.13 million, Germany’s KfW got $11.84 million and China Development Bank was paid $1.88 million).
No payments were recorded to Japan, China Exim Bank, or India Exim Bank during the quarter.
The increasing burden of external debt payments shows growing worries about Nigeria’s ability to manage its debt, especially with ongoing issues from unstable exchange rates and decreasing foreign reserves.
The large payments owed to international and private lenders, particularly the IMF and Eurobond investors, highlight the rising effect of borrowing without favorable terms on the country’s financial situation.
