Nigeria is projected to allocate approximately $11.6 billion for debt servicing in 2026 - Tinubu.

President Bola Tinubu has announced that Nigeria is expected to allocate approximately US$11.6 billion for debt servicing in 2026. As stated by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu expressed these views on Tuesday while heading Nigeria’s government, diplomatic, and business delegation to the Africa Forward Summit held at the Kenyatta Convention Centre in Nairobi.

According to him, the debt to be repaid in the year is nearly half of the projected revenue. “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. It is a dollar that did not train a young Nigerian engineer or provide affordable power for our factories. Our industrial base is being starved of the blood it needs — long-term, affordable finance — while creditors and rating agencies treat African sovereigns as permanent high-risk borrowers, regardless of our fiscal performance.

“So, I ask this gathering: how can an African manufacturer compete with a competitor in Europe, Asia, or North America when the cost of borrowing in our nations is five to ten times higher? How can we build cross-border industrial value chains under the African Continental Free Trade Area when our infrastructure projects face a financing gap deepened by the very institutions meant to bridge it? The answer is plain: we cannot. The international financial architecture, as currently constituted, is an instrument of industrial disarmament for Africa.

“Nigeria is not asking for charity. We are demanding a financial system that intentionally enables Africa to industrialise — to process its own minerals, refine its own crude oil, manufacture its own pharmaceuticals, and compete fairly in global markets. We will continue to borrow responsibly, but we insist that our creditworthiness be measured by our economic fundamentals and our industrial potential, not by outdated stereotypes,” he noted. He called for deeper economic integration across Africa, stressing the need for policies that prioritise the continent’s industrial growth and prosperity.

Tinubu highlighted Nigeria’s blue economy potential as a key driver of Africa’s development, noting that it had long been underutilised due to insecurity and uncertainty. “Today, I make an explicit commitment: Nigeria will intensify regional coordination by offering our Deep Blue Project’s maritime intelligence infrastructure as a shared data hub for willing Gulf of Guinea states. Interoperable systems, harmonised laws, and seamless joint enforcement must become the daily reality, not an aspiration on paper.