The funds Tinubu’s government has told World Bank officials will be spent on various initiatives aimed at enhancing nutrition and education across the country.
Two projects were listed Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 and HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All.
The loans are expected to receive final approvals on March 27 and March 20, 2025, respectively, Punch reports.
According to information on the World Bank website, HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All project has a total commitment of $552.18 million, with $500 million sourced from the World Bank and an additional $54 million from other contributors.
The HOPE project is designed to address Nigeria’s education crisis, where more than 17 million children are currently out of school.
The project aims will seek to improve early childhood education, primary and junior secondary schooling, and expand access to essential learning resources.
Implementation will be overseen by the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and the Universal Basic Education Commission.
Currently, the project is in the ‘Concept Review’ phase, which includes extensive consultations to finalise its framework.
The second loan project, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0, seeks $80 million from the World Bank to combat malnutrition and food insecurity.
FG Move To Secure Fresh Loans From World Bank Worth Over $500m for 2 Projects
This phase detail shows it aims to enhance access to quality nutrition services, especially targeting pregnant women, lactating mothers, adolescent girls, and children under five.
The project will leverage primary healthcare facilities and community-based programs, integrating nutrition-smart agriculture to bolster household food security and dietary diversity. Currently, this project is advancing through the ‘Decision Meeting’ stage, indicating imminent approval.
In the last 18 months, data shows that the Tinubu administration has secured $6.95 billion in loans from the World Bank to address various socioeconomic challenges in Nigeria.
The latest figures from the Debt Management Office show that Nigeria currently owes a total debt of N142.31 trillion to various institutions and countries.
Foreign debt alone is estimated at $43.02 billion(N68.88 trillion), out of which multilateral institutions, including the World Bank and IMF, account for $20.58 billion.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the domestic debts of Nigeria are also increasing and it is now at N73.43 trillion.
As of September 30, 2024, the domestic debts of Nigeria’s 36 states’ including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) stood at N4.21 trillion as of September 30.
A breakdown of the top 10 states with the highest domestic debt has been revealed.
