The World Bank Group has approved a loan of $500 million to support the Nigerian government’s efforts to empower women and improve their livelihoods.
This is the first loan that the World Bank has granted to the administration of President Bola Tinubu, who assumed office in May 2022.
The loan financing for the Nigeria Women Programme Scale Up is an expansion of an earlier project that was approved on June 27, 2018, with $100 million in funding.
The project aims to facilitate women’s access to finance, markets, skills, and information, as well as to address social norms and legal barriers that constrain women’s economic opportunities.
According to a statement by the World Bank, the project will benefit about 1.5 million women across six states: Abia, Edo, Kano, Niger, Ogun, and Taraba. It will also support the federal government’s policies and initiatives on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
In addition to the loan for women empowerment, the World Bank also announced its plan to invest about $750 million in the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) to boost the country’s access to electricity.
The project will be implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency through mini-grids, solar home systems, and grid extension.
The World Bank’s Director of Strategy and Operations for the Western Central African Region, Elizabeth Huybens, disclosed the plan during her visit to inspect the 60 Kilowatts Mini-Grid Project in Kilankwa Community in Abuja.
She said that the project was a successor of a previous one that had $350 million in funding.
She said: “We see at work here about $350 million is coming to a close, and we are preparing a successor project of $750 million.
“We are extending our support to something that we think is critical, and Nigeria is leading the world in small grid development.”
She added that the project would help Nigeria provide electricity to more people faster than relying on the national grid.
Huybens said that access to electricity was one of the most important goals for any country and that it was essential for eradicating poverty, which is the World Bank’s overarching goal.
She said: “We cannot move toward electric vehicles if we don’t have … and since the World Bank’s overarching goal is to help countries eradicate poverty, we need to help them provide access to electricity for its population.”
Meanwhile, Newsflash Nigeria reported that the Debt Management Office (DMO) revealed that Nigeria’s total public debt stock was N46.25 trillion as of December 31, 2022.
This is a 14.46% increase compared to N39.56 trillion (95.77 billion USD) recorded on December 31, 2021. The DMO made this public in a statement issued on Thursday, March 30, 2023, published on its website.
