The Federal Government has obtained an additional $500 million in financing from the World Bank to tackle worsening environmental challenges, including desertification, flooding, soil degradation and declining agricultural output across northern Nigeria.
The new funding, secured under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, is expected to strengthen ongoing efforts to rehabilitate damaged landscapes, improve water resource management and address resource-related tensions affecting farmers, herders and other rural populations.
The financing will be channelled through the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) Project, which operates across Nigeria’s 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The latest approval represents an expansion of an existing intervention aimed at addressing environmental pressures in communities located within the country’s semi-arid belt.
Beyond environmental restoration, the initiative is expected to strengthen agricultural activities, improve food availability and expand economic opportunities for populations whose livelihoods depend largely on farming and other rural occupations.
As part of its long-term objectives, the programme targets the rehabilitation of approximately 1.4 million hectares of degraded land by 2031. An estimated 6.6 million people are also expected to benefit from the intervention.
The additional resources will finance a range of environmental restoration activities, including watershed rehabilitation, erosion prevention, flood control and the recovery of agricultural land affected by environmental damage. It will equally support improved natural resource management in communities increasingly exposed to the effects of climate change.
The World Bank said the fresh financing would enable Nigeria to extend the reach of the ACReSAL programme, which was introduced in 2022 to combat environmental degradation and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities against climate-related emergencies.
According to the international financial institution, the project has already achieved considerable progress since its commencement.
Sustainable land management interventions have reportedly covered approximately 550,000 hectares, while more than 4.4 million people have benefited from various activities implemented under the programme.
The bank also disclosed that ACReSAL had exceeded its original target for improved catchment management, creating an opportunity for the government to broaden the programme and extend its benefits to additional communities.
Commenting on the latest funding approval, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis, highlighted the importance of sustained investment in environmental protection and climate adaptation.
“ACReSAL has demonstrated that investments in climate-resilient landscapes can improve livelihoods, strengthen food and water security, and help communities in the parts of Nigeria most vulnerable to climate shocks,” Verghis said.
He noted that the additional resources would allow the Federal Government to expand interventions that had already demonstrated positive outcomes in communities facing environmental difficulties.
“This additional financing will help scale up proven solutions, restore more degraded land, increase agricultural productivity, and strengthen institutions that can sustain these gains over the long term.”
The intervention is expected to provide support in addressing persistent environmental problems confronting several rural settlements in northern Nigeria.
Among the major concerns are deteriorating soil conditions, inadequate water supply, desertification, erosion and the continuous loss of land suitable for agricultural production.
These environmental difficulties have also intensified competition for scarce natural resources, particularly between farming and pastoral communities that rely on access to land and water to sustain their livelihoods.
Through landscape rehabilitation and improved water resource management, the expanded programme is expected to ease some of the pressures contributing to disagreements and conflicts in affected areas.
The restoration of agricultural land, alongside better access to water and grazing resources, is also expected to encourage cooperation and peaceful relations among communities with competing resource needs.
The ACReSAL Task Team Leader, Iganya Agene, said the latest financing approval would enable the programme to move into a broader implementation phase following the institutional and planning structures established since its introduction.
“The additional financing reflects the strong results achieved under ACReSAL and will focus on translating the planning and institutional foundations already established under the project into larger-scale investments that improve climate adaptation, food security, water security, jobs, and economic opportunities,” Agene said.
The programme is jointly being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Its geographical coverage extends across the 19 northern states and the FCT, where environmental degradation continues to threaten agricultural output, rural economic activities and access to essential natural resources.
However, the latest World Bank approval comes against the backdrop of increasing scrutiny of Nigeria’s external borrowing under the Tinubu administration.
The newly approved $500 million financing follows another substantial funding arrangement worth $1.25 billion approved by the World Bank for Nigeria on June 29, 2026, under the Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration programme.
That earlier financial package consisted of a $750 million credit facility from the International Development Association (IDA) and a $500 million loan provided through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
The funding was intended to support the government’s economic reform agenda, attract private sector investment and stimulate employment opportunities across different sectors of the economy.
Meanwhile, data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows a significant rise in Nigeria’s outstanding financial obligations to the World Bank since Tinubu took office in May 2023.
Available figures indicate that the country’s World Bank debt was approximately $14.34 billion in March 2023, about two months before the commencement of the current administration.
By June 30, 2026, however, the outstanding amount had climbed to $20.73 billion.
This represents an increase of approximately $6.39 billion, equivalent to 44.6 per cent, over the period under consideration.
Further details of the debt profile show that Nigeria’s obligations to the International Development Association stood at $19.12 billion, while its outstanding borrowing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development amounted to $1.61 billion.
The figures also place the World Bank as Nigeria’s biggest multilateral creditor, accounting for approximately 38.02 per cent of the country’s total external debt stock of $54.52 billion as of June 2026.
POLITICS NIGERIA recalls that the Federal Government is pursuing another $500 million financing arrangement with the World Bank to establish an infrastructure financing platform.
The proposed facility, which is expected to support the development of investment structures for infrastructure projects across the country, has an anticipated approval date of May 25, 2027.
