President Bola Tinubu has called for reforms to the global financial system, warning that Nigeria’s rising debt-servicing costs are limiting spending on critical sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare and education.
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for an overhaul of the global financial system, warning that rising debt-servicing costs are squeezing spending on key sectors in Africa’s largest economy.
Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, Tinubu said Nigeria would spend about $11.6bn servicing debt in 2026, nearly half of projected government revenue.
He said high borrowing costs and limited access to long-term finance placed African economies at a structural disadvantage.
“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,” he said.
Tinubu defended his administration’s reforms, including subsidy removal and currency devaluation, saying they stabilised macroeconomic indicators. However, he argued that gains were undermined by a global financial system treating African nations as persistently high-risk borrowers.
“Nigeria is not asking for charity,” he said.
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