Nigeria accounted for 16 per cent of Africa’s outstanding corporate debt at the end of 2025, ranking second behind South Africa, which held 31 per cent, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The OECD Africa Capital Markets Report 2026, released on Friday, showed that South Africa had the continent’s largest corporate debt market, valued at 63 billion dollars.
Egypt followed Nigeria with 13 per cent, while Mauritius, Mozambique and Morocco accounted for nine, six and five per cent respectively.
The report said the six countries collectively held 80 per cent of Africa’s outstanding corporate debt.
It also identified limited market liquidity, shallow domestic capital markets and dependence on bank lending as major obstacles to financing businesses across the continent.
However, the OECD estimated that Africa had more than 4.4 trillion dollars in domestic capital pools, including assets held by banks, pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds.
The report said mobilising these resources through domestic and regional capital markets could provide long-term financing for businesses and strengthen economic resilience.
In Nigeria, bank loans and direct borrowing facilities remained the dominant sources of corporate financing.
Data cited by Nairametrics showed that 19 of the largest companies on the Nigerian Exchange had combined debt of 6.25 trillion naira as of June 2026, with bank loans accounting for 74.2 per cent.
