The Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has defended the Federal Government’s increasing borrowing under the Tinubu administration, insisting that Nigeria remains financially capable of taking more loans compared to several African countries.
Onanuga made the statement in a post on X while reacting to growing public criticism over Nigeria’s rising debt profile and worsening economic hardship.
According to him, many Nigerians condemning the government’s borrowing do not fully understand economic management and public finance.
“Nigeria has not over borrowed compared to countries like Egypt, South Africa and West African country of Senegal,” Onanuga stated.
“Nigeria is credit worthy and can still take more loans to finance infrastructure. The unwarranted alarm against loans is symptomatic of economic and financial ignorance,” he added.
The presidential aide was responding to an X user identified as Akinwumi, who compared Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio with those of Egypt and South Africa.
According to the figures cited, Egypt’s total debt is estimated at over $400 billion with a GDP of about $390 billion, placing its debt-to-GDP ratio above 100 per cent. South Africa was also said to have a debt profile of about $580 billion against a GDP of roughly $420 billion, translating to around 135 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio.
In comparison, Nigeria’s total public debt was estimated at approximately $110 billion with a GDP of around $340 billion, giving the country a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 35 per cent.
“Yet some people keep shouting that Nigeria is the ‘loan capital of the world,’” the post added.
The remarks come amid growing concerns from economists, opposition figures and citizens over the Federal Government’s continued borrowing despite rising inflation, increasing poverty and the depreciation of the naira.
Since assuming office in May 2023, the Tinubu administration has secured and proposed several local and foreign loans targeted at infrastructure development, budget support, economic reforms and social intervention programmes.
The Federal Government recently sought fresh multibillion-dollar loans from institutions including the World Bank and the African Development Bank, while also increasing domestic borrowing through bonds and treasury bills.
While the government maintains that the loans are necessary to finance critical sectors such as power, transportation and agriculture, critics have continued to warn that rising debt servicing obligations could place further strain on Nigeria’s fragile economy.
