“Nigeria has not over borrowed compared to Egypt, South Africa” — Onanuga defends Tinubu’s borrowing

Presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga, has defended Nigeria’s borrowing level, insisting the country is not overburdened by debt when compared with several other economies.

He made the comment while reacting to a post on X discussing Nigeria’s debt profile.

Onanuga argued that Nigeria remains credit worthy and still has room to access loans for infrastructure development.

He dismissed concerns over rising borrowing levels, describing such criticism as misplaced.

Debt Comparison Sparks Online Debate

The debate was triggered by a post from a user, Akinwumi, who compared Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio with that of other countries.

He wrote: “Egypt’s total debt is estimated at over $400 billion, with a GDP around $390 billion — debt-to-GDP above 100%.

South Africa’s debt is about $580 billion, with GDP around $420 billion — roughly 135% debt-to-GDP.

Nigeria’s total public debt is about $110 billion, with a GDP around $340 billion — roughly 35% debt-to-GDP.

Yet some people keep shouting that Nigeria is the ‘loan capital of the world.’”

The comparison suggested that Nigeria’s debt burden is significantly lower than that of Egypt and South Africa, a point supporters of government borrowing have often cited in public discussions.

“Economic ignorance” comment sparks reactions

Responding to concerns about Nigeria’s borrowing trend, Onanuga said the alarm being raised over loans reflects what he described as “economic and financial ignorance.”

He wrote: “Nigeria has not over borrowed compared to countries like Egypt, South Africa and West African country of Senegal. Nigeria is credit worthy and can still take more loans to finance infrastructure. The unwarranted alarm against loans is symptomatic of economic and financial ignorance.”