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The World Bank has approved $300m in financing for Nigeria to strengthen resilience and expand access to essential services for Internally Displaced Persons and their host communities in Northern Nigeria.
In a statement on Monday, World Bank Nigeria said the approval, granted on August 7, 2025, will fund the Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project, targeting selected local government areas most affected by conflict-driven displacement.
The project is expected to benefit up to 7.4 million people, including about 1.3 million IDPs, by adopting an integrated development strategy aligned with Nigeria’s long-term development vision.
The statement read, “The World Bank has approved on August 7, $300m in financing for the Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project (SOLID).
“This initiative will enhance access to essential services and economic opportunities for Internally Displaced Persons and host communities in selected Local Government Areas in Northern Nigeria.
“By adopting an integrated development strategy, the SOLID Project seeks to help both IDPs and host communities move towards greater self-sufficiency and resilience, in line with Nigeria’s long-term development goals.”
The Bank stated that ongoing conflict and insecurity in the region have displaced over 3.5 million people, putting significant strain on local infrastructure and services in areas where IDPs have settled.
It added that the influx has heightened competition for scarce resources, limited livelihood opportunities, and increased vulnerability to natural disasters such as flooding, while local governments struggle to meet the needs of both residents and displaced populations.
The project will build on the Nigerian government’s existing initiatives, previous international interventions, and the earlier World Bank-funded Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project, which focused on short-term recovery.
It will prioritise developing and maintaining climate-resilient infrastructure, promoting social cohesion and community resilience through participatory planning and economic cooperatives, supporting livelihoods to enable economic activities for both IDPs and host communities, and strengthening institutions to respond to demographic pressures caused by displacement.
“We are glad to support this initiative, which has a tremendous potential to help Nigeria in addressing development challenges associated with protracted displacement in a sustainable way,” the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis, said.
“The project’s integrated approach, aligned with the National IDP Policy and the Federal Government’s long-term vision, will ensure that IDPs and host communities can transition from dependency on humanitarian assistance to self-reliance and resilience, opening up better economic opportunities.”
The Bank said the project would be implemented through a coordinated, community-driven approach involving all tiers of government, with strong collaboration from international stakeholders.
Task Team Leaders, Fuad Malkawi and Christopher Johnson, described the initiative as central to addressing the enduring displacement crisis in Northern Nigeria, highlighting its role in tackling infrastructure gaps and service delivery challenges in already strained host communities.
According to the statement, they said targeted livelihoods support under the project would help displaced and host populations achieve sustainable economic outcomes, facilitating the region’s transition from crisis response to stability, resilience, and inclusive growth.
Meanwhile, data from the Debt Management Office showed that Nigeria’s total debt to the World Bank rose to $18.23bn as of March 31, 2025.
This marks a $420m increase in just three months since December 2024, when Nigeria’s total exposure to the World Bank stood at $17.81bn.
The DMO data showed that borrowings from the International Development Association, the concessional financing arm of the World Bank, rose from $16.56bn in December 2024 to $16.99bn in March 2025.
At the same time, loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development — the non-concessional lending window of the World Bank — remained unchanged at $1.24bn.
In total, the World Bank Group now accounts for $18.23bn, or about 39.7 per cent of Nigeria’s total external debt stock, which stood at $45.98bn as of March 2025.
This reflects a marginal increase in the World Bank’s share of the debt portfolio, up from 38.9 per cent recorded in December 2024 and 36.4 per cent at the end of 2023.
Further analysis indicates that the World Bank now constitutes 81.2 per cent of Nigeria’s total multilateral debt, which reached $22.43bn in Q1 2025.
This represents a rise from the 79.8 per cent share recorded at the end of 2024 and underlines the central role the institution continues to play in Nigeria’s financing framework.
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