The Nigerian government has secured a fresh $1.57 billion loan from the World Bank.
The loans are to support the Federal Government in enhancing human capital through improved health for women, children, and adolescents, as well as building resilience against climate change impacts like floods and droughts.
The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Ndiame Diop, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said the projects would address issues hindering education and health delivery with $500 million allocated for this purpose.
He added that an additional $570 million would be deployed to strengthen primary healthcare, while $500 million was to support sustainable power and irrigation initiatives.
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.”
The loans were approved on September 26, 2024, as the government works towards addressing critical challenges in human capital and climate resilience.
Nigeria has secured a total of $6.52 billion in new financing from the World Bank under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu amid concerns over the country’s rising external debt servicing costs.
Earlier this year, the World Bank recently announced the approval of two loan projects aimed at bolstering Nigeria’s economic stability and supporting its vulnerable populations.
It is noted that only 16% of the total loans earlier approved by the World Bank were received under Tinubu.
That is, out of $4.95 billion earlier approved loans, only $774.99 million had been disbursed as of July 31, 2024, raising concerns about the pace of project implementation and fund utilization.
Data from the external debt stock report of the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows that Nigeria owes the World Bank a total of $15.59 billion as of March 31, 2024.
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