The Presidency has dismissed concerns over Nigeria’s sovereign debt burden, saying the country is not among Africa’s most indebted nations.

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification while reacting to a post by @StatiSense ranking African countries by public debt as a percentage of GDP.

The post, citing the IMF, listed Sudan as Africa’s most indebted country in 2026, with public debt at 169.1 per cent of GDP, followed by Senegal at 132.3 per cent, Mozambique at 106.1 per cent and Cabo Verde at 95.9 per cent.

Others on the list were the Republic of Congo at 91.3 per cent, Egypt at 87 per cent, Mauritius at 86.5 per cent, Gabon at 86.1 per cent, Tunisia at 84.9 per cent and South Africa at 78.9 per cent.

Nigeria was listed at 35.5 per cent of GDP.

The post noted that several African economies had public debt levels approaching or exceeding the size of their annual economic output, with Sudan’s debt estimated at roughly 1.7 times the size of its economy.

Reacting, Onanuga said the figures contradicted what he described as attempts to create unnecessary alarm over Nigeria’s sovereign debt.

He wrote on X:

“Another stubborn fact for those whose stock in trade is to denigrate Nigeria and the Tinubu presidency and raise baseless alarms about our sovereign debt.

“Our country is not among Africa’s most indebted countries. Unlike the countries listed here, our debt burden is about 35 per cent of our GDP. Kudos to PBAT and the economic team for responsible leadership.”