President Bola Tinubu has defended his administration’s planned external borrowing, arguing that loans should be judged by the infrastructure they deliver and the long-term value they create not by the headline amount alone.
In an essay titled “From Reforms to Delivery: Our Infrastructure Investment and Growth Strategy,” published on 29 October 2026, Tinubu linked the borrowing drive to his target of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030. “The real question is not how much we borrow, but what we build, what value we create and what future we leave behind,” he wrote.
Infrastructure as the Growth Engine
Tinubu listed major projects he said would strengthen Nigeria’s productive capacity, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, the Trans-Sahara Superhighway, electricity grid upgrades and the modernisation of major commercial ports in Lagos. He also pointed to investments in healthcare, education and vocational training as part of a broader push to improve connectivity, cut logistics costs, expand economic activity and attract private capital.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, he said, is expected to cut logistics costs along its corridor by 15% to 20% and could add up to 2% to GDP through trade, tourism and industry. The project is also projected to create about 100,000 direct jobs in construction and engineering and more than 150,000 indirect jobs in logistics, materials and related services.
“We are not simply building highways. We are opening economic corridors, connecting markets, unlocking industries and reshaping Nigeria’s economic geography,” Tinubu said. He argued that a $1 trillion economy cannot be built on infrastructure designed for a much smaller economy.
Reforms and Economic Indicators
The President said reforms since May 2023 including petrol subsidy removal, exchange-rate unification and tax changes — had strengthened public finances, restored macroeconomic stability and improved investor confidence.
He cited real GDP growth of 4.43% in the second quarter of 2026 and a fall in headline inflation to 14.63% in September from 20.98% a year earlier. Gross external reserves stood at $55.1 billion as of 9 October 2026, including about $46 billion in net reserves. The tax-to-GDP ratio, he added, had risen to 12.5% from 7%.
Tinubu said stronger indicators and better assessments by international credit rating agencies had improved Nigeria’s standing in financial markets, potentially helping attract institutional investors, secure longer-term financing and lower borrowing costs. “Confidence has a price; our cost of borrowing is going down, and the country risk premium has drastically decreased,” he said.
He also said the government was shifting borrowing away from short-term fiscal pressures toward investments expected to generate economic returns and jobs, and toward longer-term financing that better matches the life of infrastructure assets.
Scrutiny Over the Borrowing Plan
The defence comes as the administration’s external financing plans face renewed scrutiny. Earlier this week, Tinubu sought Senate approval for a supplementary external borrowing plan of $20.52 billion and €1.05 billion for 2026–2027 to fund infrastructure and development projects nationwide. Combined with related figures, the package has been widely referred to in public debate as a roughly $21.7 billion borrowing push.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the President to publish detailed, project-by-project information on how the proposed loans would be spent.
The debate is unfolding against a rising debt stock. Debt Management Office data showed total public debt at ₦166.79 trillion as of 30 June 2026, up from ₦159.35 trillion at the end of March.
What Happens Next
Tinubu’s essay frames the loans as investment in growth rather than consumption. Critics continue to demand clearer project lists, cost breakdowns and repayment plans. Whether the Senate and the public accept that framing will depend on how transparently the government links each naira and dollar borrowed to specific, measurable infrastructure outcomes.
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