The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said that Nigeria was deliberately shifting from expensive external borrowing to a growth model anchored on private capital and domestic reforms.
Edun stated this on Thursday at the opening session of the G-24 Technical Group Meeting in Abuja, where he delivered a keynote address on the global economy and the need for stronger South-South cooperation.
“Nigeria is deliberately shifting away from a model overly reliant on expensive external borrowing toward a more resilient growth framework powered by domestic reforms, private capital, and diversified financing instruments,” Edun said.
He explained that the new approach was in line with evolving global development finance priorities that emphasise innovative financing, blended instruments and expanded concessional windows.
According to him, Nigeria is targeting an average medium-term growth of seven per cent, which would require raising the investment-to-GDP ratio to at least 30 per cent.
“With the current public sector’s financing capacity at roughly 5 per cent of GDP, the strategy emphasises attracting private capital through structured PPPs, optimising public assets, and creating bankable, de-risked investment opportunities,” he said.
Edun noted that Nigeria’s reform programme under President Bola Tinubu was anchored on a three-phase agenda of market correction, stabilisation and growth acceleration.
He said over the past two years, the administration had implemented “bold, politically difficult—but necessary—reforms aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability,” adding that the measures had laid the groundwork for a more competitive and resilient economy.
The minister said early outcomes of the reforms were becoming evident, with investor sentiment gradually recovering and significant capital commitments returning to the country.
“The reform path has attracted global recognition, and investor sentiment is steadily recovering. This renewed confidence is reflected in the return of significant capital commitments to Nigeria,” he said.
He cited Shell’s $20bn investment commitment as one of the notable examples of renewed private sector interest in the Nigerian market.
Edun described the current global environment as one defined by fragmentation, geopolitical rivalry and weakening multilateral institutions, warning that deepening geoeconomic confrontation could reduce global output by two percentage points and shrink global trade by 2.3 per cent.
He said emerging markets and developing economies were particularly vulnerable, noting that over a quarter of them had already lost access to international capital markets, while more than half of low-income countries were in or approaching debt distress.
To strengthen fiscal resilience, the minister said Nigeria was also advancing a comprehensive domestic resource mobilisation strategy.
“Through broad-based tax reforms, implementation of a modernised tax law, and improvements in compliance and automation—including the National Single Window initiative—Nigeria plans to raise its tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 per cent in the medium term,” he said.
He added that revenue reforms underway included deploying RevOp, improving Federal Treasury receipts, implementing a Central Billing System and ending direct deductions by portals and payment service providers.
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Edun stressed that the era of waiting for external capital flows to drive development was over, urging countries in the Global South to strengthen collaboration.
“The era of waiting for trickle-down prosperity from the North has passed. The future belongs to regions that collaborate, innovate, and integrate with purpose,” he said.
He called on members of the G-24 to advocate reforms of the global financial architecture, including strengthening the IMF’s global financial safety net, expanding concessional lending by multilateral development banks and prioritising local currency financing.
According to him, such reforms are critical to support countries that have lost access to international capital markets and to close the widening Sustainable Development Goals financing gap.
Edun said Nigeria would continue to link major infrastructure investments, including the Lagos–Calabar Highway and ongoing power sector reforms, to job creation and inclusive growth.
He urged G-24 members to use the meeting to harmonise their positions and present a unified voice in shaping a more inclusive and resilient global financial system.
In her opening remarks, Director and Head of Secretariat of the G-24, Dr Iyabo Masha, said the global economy was experiencing “measured resilience but constrained ambition,” warning that emerging market and developing economies must move beyond recovery to restore sustainable growth paths.
She said that although inflation had moderated in some economies and supply disruptions had eased, “resilience is not the same as robustness,” noting that global conditions remained fragile.
Masha said global merchandise trade growth for 2026 was projected at just 0.5 per cent, reflecting the cumulative impact of tariffs and policy uncertainty, a development she said would weaken external demand and slow technology diffusion.
She added that policy space for emerging and developing economies was tightening as debt service obligations absorbed a growing share of revenues, with external public debt service reaching $487bn in 2023.
According to her, near-term risks include renewed inflation or supply shocks, abrupt tightening of global financial conditions, deepening trade fragmentation, prolonged debt distress and erosion of human capital.
She urged policymakers to strengthen fiscal and monetary frameworks, expand domestic resource mobilisation, prioritise climate adaptation and human capital development, and deepen regional trade and investment partnerships.
Nigeria’s external debt rose to $46.98bn, equivalent to N71.85tn, as of June, up from $45.98bn or N70.63tn recorded in March, according to data from the Debt Management Office.
The DMO report showed that multilateral institutions remained Nigeria’s largest creditors, with total exposure of $23.19bn, representing 49.4 per cent of the country’s external debt stock.
The World Bank’s International Development Association emerged as the single largest creditor, with outstanding loans of $18.04bn.
Bilateral loans accounted for $6.20bn of the total, with the Export-Import Bank of China leading at $4.91bn. Other bilateral creditors include France, Japan, India and Germany, though with smaller exposures.
Commercial borrowings stood at $17.32bn, largely comprising Eurobonds, which made up 36.9 per cent of the external debt portfolio. An additional $268.9m was owed under syndicated facilities and commercial bank loans.
The composition of the debt stock indicates that while Nigeria continues to rely heavily on concessional financing from multilateral lenders, its significant exposure to Eurobonds and other commercial instruments leaves it vulnerable to shifts in global interest rates and investor sentiment.