Nigeria to rely less on debt, focus on driving investment, says Wale Edun

By Abubakar Yunusa

Wale Edun, minister of finance, says Nigeria will rely less on debt and focus on driving investment.
Edun spoke on Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“On paper, we have a wider budget deficit because we’ve got the approval of the national assembly of Nigeria — the parliament of Nigeria,” he said.
“But actually the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under his renewed hope agenda at the stage we have got to now after removing major distortions, stabilising the economy, is to consolidate and of course, rely less on debt and to try and drive investment.
“We’re here in Davos to tell the Nigerian story and to show how investible Nigeria is now that we have a stable macroeconomic environment.”
Furthermore, the minister said Nigeria has the latitude for another eurobond issuance but the market has to be receptive.
“You have to be within your guidelines, rules and regulations, and margins for borrowing,” he said.
“And of course, the timing has to be right so we will see down the road what will happen in that area.
“We’re hoping to rely less on borrowing but we’ll see what happens there. We have the latitude to come to the market.”
Edun said the country was well received the last time it went to the market, but its current emphasis is on investment — particularly on boosting domestic investment and increasing local savings to drive growth in the Nigerian economy.
Speaking on reducing Nigeria’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP), Edun said the country will focus on revenue.
Nigeria’s public debt-to-GDP ratio was reported at 39.4 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, following the successful rebasing of the country’s gross domestic product by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
On October 16, 2025, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio was expected to decrease to 35 percent in 2026.
To achieve the reduced ratio, Edun said “the issue is to focus on revenue; we’re focused on domestic resource mobilisation”.
He said the country has a tax reform regime coming into place — four tax acts — meant to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio from a low 13 percent to 18 percent in the nearest future.
“In addition, we have automation, application of technology to drive internal revenue of the government, block leakages and loopholes, which the manual system has engendered,” Edun said.
“And as I say, we are looking to bring in private sector funding.”
Noting that the private sector accounts for about 90 percent of GDP, he said that under the current administration and improved incentive framework, Nigerians are encouraged to consume, save, and invest more — alongside the diaspora and foreign investors.
Edun added that “we’re looking to places like the Middle East and other areas that are cash rich and looking for good investment”.