For more than half of Nigeria's foreign loans, the public record does not show how the money was used
Foreign loans to the Federal Government, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), graded by what the public record shows about their use, from the Public Debt Integrity database of the Center for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI).
Public Debt Integrity records 448 foreign loans to the Federal Government, the 36 states and the FCT, worth US$98.75 billion where a dollar amount is stated. Each loan is graded by one test: does the public record show that the money was used for what it was borrowed for? A loan is graded HIGH only where an independent official record shows the project was completed. A borrower’s own statement about its project is not enough.
Of the 448 loans, 138 (31 percent) are graded HIGH, 69 MODERATE and 241 (54 percent) INSUFFICIENT. A grade describes the public evidence, not the conduct of any official: a loan graded INSUFFICIENT may have been well used, but the public record does not show it.
Foreign loans by evidence gradeNumber of loans
Source: Public Debt Integrity (CeFTPI), database at 2 November 2026. High: an independent official record shows completion. Moderate: dated implementation reports document the project, but completion is not yet documented. Insufficient: the use of the money is not established.
By value the gap is wider. Loans graded INSUFFICIENT account for US$54.74 billion, more than half of the total, against US$20.65 billion for loans graded HIGH. Of the 241 loans graded INSUFFICIENT, 168, worth US$23.90 billion, have already ended without an official record that the project was completed.
Value of foreign loans by evidence gradeUS$ billion, where a dollar amount is stated
Source: Public Debt Integrity (CeFTPI), database at 2 November 2026.
The World Bank, which publishes implementation and completion reports for its projects, has the best-documented loans: 119 of its 232 loans are graded HIGH. None of the 19 Eurobonds, worth US$21.17 billion, is graded HIGH, and none of the loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the European Investment Bank (EIB) or the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is graded above INSUFFICIENT.
Foreign loans by lender and evidence gradeNumber of loans
Source: Public Debt Integrity (CeFTPI), database at 2 November 2026. IFAD is the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Other lenders include commercial bank facilities, the International Monetary Fund, the Diaspora bond and bilateral lenders with one or two loans each.
The record is better for loans to the states than for loans to the Federal Government. Of 212 loans attributed to the states and the FCT, 77 are graded HIGH, against 60 of the 234 loans to the Federal Government.
Foreign loans by borrower and evidence gradeNumber of loans
Source: Public Debt Integrity (CeFTPI), database at 2 November 2026. Two loans shared between the Federal Government and a state are not shown (one graded High, one Moderate).
On the domestic side the record is thinner. Of the 601 projects named in domestic bond and loan documents of the Federal Government, the states and the FCT, 26 have records of completion.
Projects named in domestic bond and loan documents, by evidence gradeNumber of projects
Source: Public Debt Integrity (CeFTPI), database at 2 November 2026, from bond and Sukuk offer documents, state budgets and audited accounts, and Federal Ministry of Works records.