By Tochukwu Bliss, Abuja
The World Bank yesterday, said it has approved another $1.57billion for Nigeria arising from three new loan requests.
The global lender explained that this new financing includes $500million for addressing governance issues that constrain the delivery of education and health; $570million for the Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Programmed; and $500million for the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project.
Despite growing concerns over Nigeria’s rising external debt servicing costs, President Bola Tinubu has so far secured a total of $6.52billion in loans from the World Bank.
The Bank is expected to approve yet another loan request worth $500million by December 16, for the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project – Scale Up project.
According to the bank’s statement, the approval was made on September 26, in effort to strengthening Nigeria’s human capital through better health for women, children and adolescents, and building resilience in the face of climate threats.
The statement reads in part: “The World Bank has today approved three operations for a total of $1.57billion 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.”
It continued: “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 the improvement of dams’ safety and management of water resources for hydropower and irrigation in selected areas of Nigeria.
“The HOPE-GOV Programme will support Nigeria to address underlying governance weaknesses in the systems and procedures of government in two key human development sectors.”
Governance weaknesses
The World Bank has today approved three operations for a total of $1.57billion 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.
However, the World Bank believes that the HOPE-GOV Programme will address underlying governance weaknesses in the systems and procedures of government to substantially reduce maternal and under-five mortality, benefiting 40 million people, especially vulnerable populations.
It said the project to be implemented by the Federal Ministries of Budget and Economic Planning; Health and Social Welfare; and Education will receive $500million through International Development Association (IDA) credit, and another $70million in grant financing from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents.
The World Bank said: “The HOPE-GOV Programme will support Nigeria to address underlying governance weaknesses in the systems and procedures of government in two key human development sectors.
“It will particularly focus on critical cross-cutting challenges and enabling factors related to both financial and human resource management in basic education and primary healthcare sectors.
“The Programme will increase the availability and effectiveness of financing for basic education and primary healthcare service delivery, enhance transparency and accountability of financing and improve recruitment, deployment and performance management of basic education teachers and primary healthcare workers by federal, state, and local governments.
“In support of the government’s newly launched reforms in the health sector, under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, the HOPE-PHC project will improve the quality and utilization of core reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition services to substantially reduce maternal and under-five mortality and to improve the resilience of the health system— benefiting 40 million people, especially vulnerable populations.
“The project is financed by a concessional $500 million International Development Association credit and an additional $70 million in grant financing from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents.
“The GFF support includes $11 million from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and $12.5 million from the Children’s Investment Foundation Fund through joint financing with the GFF to help close the financing gap for primary and community healthcare and maternal newborn care at hospital-level, while also supporting government efforts to ensure sustainable financing for family planning commodities.”
Infrastructure development
According to the Bretton Woods Institution, the SPIN project will further support the provision of new and improved irrigation and drainage services over an area of 40,000 hectares, benefitting up to 950,000 people, including households, farmers, and livestock breeders.
This will be supervised and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation.
“The SPIN Programme will help Nigeria to protect citizens from floods and drought through enhanced dam safety and operations. The project will further support the provision of new and improved irrigation and drainage services over an area of 40,000 hectares.
“This will help up to 950,000 people, including households, farmers, and livestock breeders, to directly benefit from more reliable, climate-resilient, and efficient irrigation, water supply and increased agricultural productivity through improved irrigation water management.
“Through the SPIN project, the government will develop a master plan for hydropower and a structured public-private partnership transaction for a hydropower project.”
Commenting, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Ndiamé Diop, was quoted as saying that the approval underscores the Bank’s commitment to addressing the complex challenges faced by Nigerians, particularly women and girls, in accessing quality services and improving governance structures that contribute to these issues.
He said: “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 explain these difficulties.
“The SPIN programme 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,” he added.
