Nigeria pays more to service external debt despite falling debt ratios

From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Nigeria’s external debt burden became more expensive to service in 2025, despite a decline in key debt ratios, as rising repayment costs continued to put pressure on the country’s finances, the World Bank has said.
The World Bank, in its International Debt Report 2026, disclosed that Nigeria’s debt-service-to-exports ratio increased by 9.6 per cent in 2025, while debt service as a share of Gross National Income (GNI) rose by 6.9 per cent.
The development came despite a 4.3 per cent decline in the country’s external debt-to-exports ratio and a 6.6 per cent reduction in its external debt-to-GNI ratio during the period.
The figures suggest that although...