Nigeria is billed to receive a fresh loan of $1 7 billion from the World Bank, NewsSpecng learnt.
The loan which is expecting approval on September 26, 2024, according to an official documents is meant to fund three major development projects.
The first project is the Nigeria: Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Programme, which is set to receive $500m.
The second project, Nigeria Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity Governance, has proposed funding of $500m.
While the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project will receive the highest funding of $700m.
The document stated that these projects have reached the negotiation stage and are expected to be approved on September 26, 2024. (As of board presentation).
The negotiation stage, the final phase of the loan process, indicates that the request has successfully cleared the appraisal stage between Nigeria, represented by the Minister of Finance, and the World Bank.
If approved, Nigeria will have secured a total of $3.95bn in loans from the bank this year alone and a cumulative $6.65bn under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The proposed loan projects, targeting crucial sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and infrastructure, are pivotal for the country’s sustainable development and economic stability.
The Nigeria Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity, which will receive $500m, focuses on enhancing human capital by improving education, health, and social protection services.
According to the draft copy of the Environment and Social Systems Assessment prepared by the bank, the project is to improve quality and utilisation of essential health care services and health system resilience in Nigeria.
The document read, “The proposed HOPE-Health provides a Sector-Wide Approach platform, leveraging significant additional resources to support a critical agenda.
“By aligning donor financing with the government’s resources, the proposed operation will foster convergence around a common set of results that are reflective of Nigeria’s disease burden.
Continuing, it said, “The Programme Development Objective is to improve quality and utilisation of essential healthcare services and health system resilience in Nigeria. Four PDO-level indicators align with the PDO emphasis on utilization, and quality of essential health care services.
“Number of women and children who receive tracer essential health services by community health workers. The number of PHC facilities achieving service readiness assessment criteria. The proportion of deliveries with skilled birth attendants present and the number of empaneled EDGE level 1 CEmONC facilities certified.”
This project has the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and Federal Ministry of Education as the implementing agency.
Also, the international lender stated that the loan request for the Nigeria: Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Program, is to fortify Nigeria’s primary healthcare system by enhancing healthcare infrastructure, training healthcare professionals, and improving service delivery. This project will be implemented by the Ministry of Health.
The third project, Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project, will focus on sustainable power generation and irrigation, both of which are essential for agricultural and industrial development.
It will be supervised and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation.
