World Bank Set to Approve $500M Loan for Nigeria
The World Bank Group’s board is set to meet today to decide on a $500 million loan for Nigeria to boost rural access and agricultural marketing in the country.
The loan is part of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project Scale Up, which aims to improve connections between rural communities and larger markets.
The project, worth $500m, is expected to be approved by the World Bank on Friday, December 13, 2024. It was created to bridge the gap between rural communities and the broader marketplace while enhancing general accessibility to agricultural markets, schools, and hospitals and fostering social cohesion in rural areas.
The Punch earlier stated that the Federal Government was negotiating with the World Bank for the loan.
The states willing to participate in the project are required to have a fully functional Roads Fund and Roads Agency with appointed boards and staff and provisions for administrative costs in the state budget based on a document on the loan as seen by the correspondence.
The document read, “While the eligibility for state participation under RAAMP required the draughting and placement of Road Fund and Roads Agency bills in the State House of Assemblies, the new project would require the states to have a fully functional Road Fund and Roads Agency with appointed boards and staff and provision for administrative costs made in the state budget. In addition, RARAs offer an opportunity to foster women’s representation in the transport sector.
“The RAAMP-SU’s funds will be allocated on a competitive basis between states, factoring in (a) a refined socioeconomic selection matrix to increase rural access to basic services and promote food security; (b) activity readiness in terms of design; and (c) the state’s demonstrated commitment in the projected infrastructure efficient maintenance, including potential co-financing from their resources.”
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The document also stated that the implementation of relocation and compensation plans is a requirement for project activities that cause relocation.
This will be the 10th loan project from the World Bank under the administration of President Bola Tinubu if it is eventually approved.
It is noted that under the administration of the federal government, President Bola Tinubu has obtained loans worth $6.45bn in 16 months so far from the World Bank.
The amount rose to its new level after the World Bank recently approved three new loans totalling $1.57 billion for various projects in Nigeria, with further increases expected in the coming months.
According to The PUNCH, the global lender has approved at least 36 loan requests from the Nigerian government over the past five years, amounting to a total of $24.088 billion.
While these loans aim to fund development projects across the country, they have sparked growing concerns about Nigeria’s rising debt burden and raised questions about the sustainability of these commitments and their long-term impact on the economy.
Content Credit| Igbakuma Rita Doom
Picture Credit | https://newscentral.africa/nigeria-world-bank-collaborate-on-power-sector-reforms/
