The House of Representatives has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to secure a $2.35 billion loan to help finance the 2025 budget deficit, despite growing concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt profile.

The House also granted approval for the issuance of a $500 million sovereign sukuk on the international capital market to support infrastructure development and broaden the country’s funding sources.

The lawmakers reached the decision after reviewing the report of the Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debt Management.

This development comes amid heightened debate regarding Nigeria’s escalating debt burden.

As of the first quarter of 2025, the nation’s total debt stood at ₦149.39 trillion, up from ₦121.7 trillion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In September 2025, Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, warned that Nigeria’s debt levels had reached a critical point.

However, the Presidency has maintained that the current administration is borrowing responsibly.

The trouble at Dangote Refinery has reportedly deepened as its petrol-producing unit has shut down

Amid the ongoing industrial dispute against Dangote Refinery by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), the mega refinery has run into new challenges.

Also, data shows that the refinery is facing crude oil challenges as intakes slowed in September.

The refinery’s challenges are also compounded by industrial action as oil unions protest the sack of 800 Nigerian workers at the facility

Africa’s largest refinery is reportedly grappling with operational challenges as crude oil inflows drop sharply in September 2025.

Also, the facility’s petrol-producing unit and residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) have allegedly broken down.

According to the petroleum product-tracking platform, PetroleumPriceNG, the failure to issue new pro forma invoices has triggered hoarding at the refinery, leading to higher petrol prices.

Recall that Legit.ng reported that the 650,000 bpd-capacity refinery increased its ex-depot prices for petrol to N860 per litre, up from N825.

Experts attributed the increase, which also affected other depot operators, to a rise in crude prices.

Meanwhile, crude intake into the mega refinery dropped sharply this month. Data from Vortexa shows that inflows dropped to about 250,000 barrels per day.

Energy policy analysts warn that if the scenario continues, it will be the lowest crude supply to the Lekk-based plant since September last year, when Fitch downgraded it and banks tightened finance lines, shrinking its ability to purchase crude.

With less feedstock coming in, the facility cannot run at optimal capacity, which is currently estimated at 500,000 barrels per day. Also, it shows Nigeria’s vulnerability as the world’s largest single-train refinery struggles to maintain stable production.

As crude supply dips, the RFCC has also gone offline for maintenance, with industry watchers speculating that the unit may not resume full operations until early October.

Meanwhile, the refinery has redirected more low-sulphur straight-run fuel into the export market. Data shows that exports hit 320,000 barrels per day this month, the refinery’s highest cargo shipment on record.

The shift may keep revenue coming, but it starves the Nigerian and African market of the much-needed petroleum product supply.

Experts say product inflows from other regions into West Africa have slowed to less than one million tonnes of petrol and blending components in September. The figure is reportedly below the year-to-date average and marks the weakest September arrival on record.

This means West Africa is receiving fewer petrol imports as Dangote struggles to stabilise operations. The squeeze increases the refinery’s dominance as its failure could have multiple ripple effects in the petroleum product market.

The production challenges have affected the downstream sector. In early September, the massive plant halted sales, promising to resume allocation later in the month.

Already, the delay has created panic, as marketers holding old stocks hoard them, selling at premium rates.

Reports say depot prices surged above Dangote’s N820 per litre ex-depot price of N820 to N870, while Wosbab Lagos recorded the highest daily increase at almost three per cent.

The situation at Dangote demonstrates that sheer size does not guarantee stability. The refinery’s challenges highlight Nigeria’s precarious balance between energy security and vulnerability to global oil volatility.

Every disruption quickly translates into inflationary pressures within the downstream market. For Dangote, the immediate priorities are clear: restore RFCC operations and ensure timely PFI issuance.

For Nigeria, the lesson is more profound: without enhanced upstream output and improved policy coordination, the aspiration of affordable, dependable petrol may remain elusive, even with Africa’s largest refinery.

The World Bank Group, through its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, has completed its first securitisation transaction, marking a milestone in the global effort to channel private institutional capital into emerging markets.

In a statement sent to Saturday PUNCH, the lender disclosed that the $510m collateralised loan obligation represents the first tangible step in IFC’s broader strategy to establish an “originate-to-distribute” model for investments in developing economies.

The transaction involves repackaging IFC’s loan portfolio into rated securities, thereby creating a new asset class that meets the risk and return requirements of global institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, and asset managers.

According to IFC, this approach is expected to unlock access to the world’s largest pools of capital while freeing up its balance sheet to finance additional projects across developing countries.

World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, said the initiative underscores the institution’s ambition to mobilise private investment at scale, describing it as crucial for long-term economic transformation.

“Mobilising private investment at scale is essential to creating the jobs that give people a ladder out of poverty and begin the journey of changing a family’s trajectory for generations,” Banga said.

“This is step one in an originate-to-distribute strategy that holds significant potential to attract private capital at scale. It also frees up our balance sheet so we can support more countries and more private-sector players. The opportunity and the need are much larger, and so is our ambition.”

The deal has already attracted significant interest from investors and was listed on the London Stock Exchange. It features a $320m senior tranche purchased by private investors, a $130m mezzanine tranche insured by a consortium of credit insurers, and a $60m equity tranche.

Goldman Sachs acted as the arranger for the transaction, which is expected to serve as a scalable and replicable model for future issuances. The World Bank Group said it would continue launching regular issuances under this framework, reinforcing its commitment to building a sustainable pipeline for private-sector participation in development finance.

The structure of the deal is designed to address two critical challenges facing development financing. Firstly, it creates a vehicle that gives institutional investors exposure to emerging market credit opportunities that are typically out of their reach. Secondly, it enables the IFC to recycle capital and expand its lending to high-impact projects in countries most in need of support.

The originate-to-distribute approach was one of the key recommendations of the Private Sector Investment Lab, an advisory body established in June 2023. The Lab was tasked with identifying barriers to private-sector investment in emerging markets and designing practical solutions.

By securitising its portfolio, the IFC is demonstrating how innovative financial instruments can bridge the gap between global investors’ appetite for yield and the financing needs of developing nations.

Development experts note that such initiatives are vital for meeting the massive infrastructure, energy, and social investment requirements of low- and middle-income countries. With public funding and traditional aid flows proving insufficient, attracting private capital has become a cornerstone of the World Bank’s strategy under Banga’s leadership.

Analysts believe the success of this transaction will encourage similar models across other development finance institutions, setting the stage for a broader mobilisation of private capital into regions often overlooked by mainstream markets.

For the World Bank Group, this pioneering securitisation is not only a financial innovation but also a signal of its evolving role—transitioning from being just a lender to becoming a catalyst for large-scale investment flows into developing economies.