World Bank Has Approved $1.57 Billion For Three Projects In Nigeria – The News Chronicle

The World Bank has authorized three new projects worth $1.57 billion for Nigeria.

In a statement released on Monday, World Bank Nigeria stated that the additional funding will help the nation address healthcare and education governance issues, enhance primary healthcare services, and strengthen irrigation and dam safety to increase resilience to climate change.

The September 26, 2024, clearance demonstrates the World Bank’s dedication to enhancing Nigeria’s human capital and fostering resilience against climate-related hazards.

This finance package, which consists of a $70 million grant and a $1.5 billion loan, is a part of larger initiatives to combat poverty and increase production while also addressing important areas like healthcare, education, and water management.

A Breakdown Of Approved Projects

The $1.57 billion in financing is allocated to three significant projects. $500 million will be given to the first program, HOPE-GOV, to enhance governance in the health and education sectors. This program aims to solve fundamental financial and human resource management problems that have made it more challenging to provide services. The objective is to improve accountability and transparency while ensuring the most vulnerable groups receive essential services like primary healthcare and elementary education.

For the Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Program (HOPE-PHC), an additional $570 million has been set aside. The improvement of Nigeria’s healthcare system, especially for women, children, and adolescents, depends heavily on this program. The program’s main objectives are to lower the mortality rates for mothers and children under five and strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system’s resilience.

The project will offer high-quality maternity, neonatal, child, and adolescent health services under HOPE-PHC. Over 40 million Nigerians are anticipated to gain from the program, particularly those who reside in underprivileged areas. A $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit and an extra $70 million grant from the Global Financing Facility (GFF)—which also includes contributions from the Children’s Investment Foundation Fund (CIFF) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)—fund the project. These grants will support sustainable family planning financing while filling funding shortfalls in basic healthcare.

The remaining $500 million would go to the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project (SPIN), which seeks to shield Nigeria from climate-related disasters, including floods and droughts. The SPIN initiative would benefit about 950,000 individuals, including farmers and animal breeders, through improved water resource management, expanded irrigation services, and strengthened dam safety measures.

The project would assist Nigeria in increasing agricultural productivity by implementing more dependable and effective irrigation systems. The SPIN project also aims to create a master plan for hydropower development, emphasizing public-private partnerships as a means of increasing energy output.

Fresh Funding To Alleviate Nigerians’ Problems

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr. Ndiamé Diop, stressed in the statement how important it is to invest in Nigerians’ health and education to increase productivity, lower poverty, and improve future employment possibilities.

He continued by saying that the additional funding will help Nigerians, especially women and girls, overcome major obstacles to receiving high-quality medical care and services.

Diop stated: “Effective investment in the health and education of Nigerians today is central to increasing their future employment opportunities, productivity, and earnings, while reducing poverty of the most vulnerable. This new financing for human capital and primary healthcare will help to address the complex difficulties faced by Nigerians especially women and girls around access and quality of services, but also the governance arrangements that also explain these difficulties. 

“The SPIN program is timely and will protect Nigerians from floods and droughts in the areas where it will be implemented, while enabling an increase in hydropower generation. The direct positive impact of this project on people and livelihoods is enormous, The World Bank is pleased to work with the government and other stakeholders to deliver this program.” 

Things To Note

Under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria has obtained $6.52 billion in fresh funding from the World Bank in response to worries over the nation’s growing foreign debt servicing expenses.

The World Bank recently declared that two loan projects intended to benefit Nigeria’s vulnerable people and strengthen its economic stability had been approved earlier this year.

Before Tinubu, Nairametrics had indicated that only roughly 16% of all loans authorized by the World Bank went to Nigeria.

This means that as of July 31, 2024, only $774.99 million of the $4.95 billion in previously approved loans had been disbursed, raising questions regarding the rate of project implementation and resource utilization.

According to information from the Debt Management Office’s (DMO) foreign debt stock report, as of March 31, 2024, Nigeria owed the World Bank a total of $15.59 billion.

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