Again, World Bank approves $1.57bn loan for Nigeria
Maureen Aguta
Indication on Monday is that the Federal Government of Nigeria has secured three new loans from the World Bank, totalling $1.57 billion, to improve healthcare, education, and climate resilience.
The funds will focus on enhancing services for women, children, and adolescents, while also addressing climate challenges such as floods and drought.
A statement released on Monday says, “The World Bank has today approved three operations for a total of $1.57 billion to support the Government of Nigeria in strengthening human capital through better health for women, children, and adolescents and building resilience to the effects of climate change such as floods and droughts through improving dam safety and irrigation.”
The financing package includes $500 million to address governance issues affecting education and healthcare delivery, $570 million for the Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Programme, and $500 million for the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project (SPIN).
The statement continues, “The HOPE-GOV and HOPE-PHC programmes combined will support the Government of Nigeria to improve service delivery in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors which are critical towards improving Nigeria’s human capital outcomes.
“The SPIN project will support improvement of dams’ safety and management of water resources for hydropower and irrigation in selected areas of Nigeria.”
Additionally, the HOPE-GOV programme will focus on governance reforms.
The approval was made on September 26, 2024.