Nigeria’s offer for a $1.5 billion loan was eventually accepted by the World Bank.
This was revealed on Tuesday in a World Bank statement noting that the facility is a five-year Structure for Country Collaboration (CPF) that will last from 2021 to 2024.
“This Country Partnership Framework will guide our commitment for the next 5 years to support the strategic priorities of the Government of Nigeria by adopting a phased and adaptive approach,” said Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria.
For two programs, including the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Program for Results (Nigeria CARES) and the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Program for Results, the World Bank Board of Directors approved the $1.5 billion (SFTAS).
The CPF will focus on four areas of commitment, including investment in human resources by increasing access to basic education, quality water, and sanitation services; enhancing primary healthcare; and increasing the coverage and performance of social assistance programs.
Promoting employment and economic transformation and diversification by encouraging private investment and job creation initiatives and increasing access for households and businesses to affordable and renewable energy.
In order to provide Nigerians with better livelihoods, the CPF will also concentrate on boosting digital infrastructure and creating economic corridors and smart cities.
Strengthening the public sector’s foundations through enhancing public financial management and strengthening public-government social contracts by strengthened fiscal and debt stewardship.
In the release, the World Bank added that Nigeria is at a critical juncture, hence the loan approval.
“The economy is expected to contract by over 4 percent in 2020 with the dramatic drop in oil prices as a result of COVID-19, plunging the world into its deepest recession since the 1980s. This year, government revenues could plunge by more than $15 billion, and the crisis would drive an additional 5 million Nigerians into poverty by 2020,” the statement read in part.
The World Bank noted the planning of the facility jointly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
This CPF suggests a collective approach to how resources around the entire Bank Community will better help the Government’s efforts to raise 100 million people out of poverty by achieving its objective.
Kevin Njiraini, IFC Director for Southern Africa and Nigeria, also said The Country Partnership Framework uses the World Bank Group to enable inclusive and sustainable business growth.”
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