Challenges Militating against the Success of IMF Debt Management Strategies in Nigeria

The persistent debt challenges faced by Nigeria, despite repeated engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have raised critical concerns about the efficacy and contextual suitability of IMF-backed debt management strategies in the country. Generally perceived as counterproductive, these strategies are often criticized for aggravating debt dependency, fostering austerity without addressing systemic economic vulnerabilities, and undermining national development priorities. These issues necessitated the present study, which aimed to investigate the challenges militating against the success of IMF debt management strategies in Nigeria. The study employed the qualitative data and secondary sources for gathering data. The neo-colonialism theory was adopted for the research work. Findings reveal a strong and consistent perception among respondents that Nigeria generally complies with IMF debt management strategies, particularly in areas such as fiscal policy alignment, structural adjustments, and budgetary planning. Other findings are the unrealistic conditionalities, bias toward creditor interests, perpetuation of debt cycles, disregard for social development sectors, and misalignment with Nigeria’s weak institutional capacity. Based on these findings, two key recommendations are offered. First, Nigeria must urgently engage in a comprehensive review of its engagement framework with the IMF, ensuring that debt management strategies are negotiated with greater national ownership, flexibility, and alignment with domestic development priorities. Second, institutional strengthening should be prioritized to enhance Nigeria’s fiscal and administrative capacities, enabling the country to better absorb, implement, and monitor debt-related reforms in ways that protect socio-economic development goals while ensuring sustainable debt practices.