World Bank Moves to Approve $500m IDA Credit for Nigeria to Revamp Agriculture, Deepen Value Chains

|By Babatunji Wusu

The World Bank is poised to approve a fresh $500 million loan to Nigeria next month, targeting agricultural productivity and the strengthening of key value chains across participating states.

Official project documents show that the facility, valued at $500 million, is scheduled for approval on March 30, 2026. The entire sum will be financed through the World Bank’s concessional arm, the International Development Association, under an IDA credit arrangement.

The borrower is the Federal Republic of Nigeria, while implementation will be driven by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with participating state governments.

According to project details, the intervention seeks to boost smallholder farmer productivity and strengthen targeted agricultural value chains in selected states. The World Bank underscored that job creation and the fight against food and nutrition insecurity remain among Nigeria’s most urgent development priorities.

The facility will be deployed across four strategic components. These include integrating smallholder farmers into competitive value chains, modernizing smallholder production systems, reforming policy and regulatory frameworks to attract private investment in agricultural input markets, and strengthening project coordination and monitoring systems.

The planned approval comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s rising external debt profile. Data indicate that funding from the International Development Association rose by $1.9 billion within one year, reaching $18.7 billion as of December 31, 2025.

Figures released by the Debt Management Office show that 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, reinforcing its position as one of the country’s largest multilateral creditors.

With agriculture positioned as a critical lever for economic diversification, the new IDA-backed facility signals another major multilateral intervention aimed at stabilizing food systems, stimulating rural incomes, and expanding agribusiness opportunities across Nigeria.