Nigeria, five other countries account for 80% of Africa’s corporate debt – OECD

Nigeria holds 16% of Africa’s outstanding corporate debt, making it one of six countries that together account for 80% of the continent’s total, according to an OECD report cited by Nairametrics.

Nigeria is one of six African countries that accounted for 80% of the continent’s outstanding corporate debt at the end of 2025, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Nairametrics reported.

The finding is contained in the OECD Africa Capital Markets Report 2026, which was released on Friday.

South Africa had the largest share at about 31%, followed by Nigeria at 16% and Egypt at 13%. Mauritius accounted for 9%, Mozambique 6% and Morocco 5%.

The report said Africa accounted for only 0.4% of global market capitalisation in 2024, despite domestic capital pools exceeding $4.4 trillion.

“Overall, capital markets remain underutilised as a source of long-term finance — particularly when compared to other emerging-market economies — limiting their contribution to economic growth and resilience,” the OECD said.

A Nairametrics review found that 19 of the largest NGX 30 companies had combined debt of N6.25 trillion as of June 2026, with bank loans accounting for 74.2%.