Federal Govt Ratifies $3.45bn World Bank Loan

The federal government has accepted a $3.45 billion World Bank Loan facility which will go into concessional funding for a number of projects cutting across power, renewable energy, education for young girls among other initiatives.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun disclosed this to State House correspondents on Monday after the federal executive council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa .

He gave indications that funding for the state’s resource mobilisation program which will help them with their internally-generated revenue efforts was also encapsulated in the loan facility.

Edun also revealed that the loan facility had an initial 10 year moratorium at a very minimal interest rate to the Nigerian government.

He said “ at the Federal Executive Council, today I presented five memos which were gracefully approved by the Federal Executive Council. They were to do with concessional and in many cases zero-interest financing by the World Bank and the International Development Association, which is the very concessional financing arm.

“The projects that were approved for funding were in the power sector and then the renewable energy sector.

There was funding for states for resource mobilisation programs to help them with the internally-generated revenue efforts.

“There was a project for adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment, essentially, as it says, it’s a program to support young girls from the age of 11, secondary school age, and to ensure that at the end of the schooling, they have one skill or the other that is marketable, as well as the academic laurels.

“Then finally the fifth financing that was approved was for the Women project and this is an additional project. The first one was very successful. It was all about empowering women, upscaling their skills levels, and of course, giving them some financial inclusion, including in the banking system.

“So those were five loans totaling $3.45 billion. As you know, the tenure is all around 40 years, moratorium period of around 10 years and interest very low, or in the cases of the either loans, zero interest, although some fees would be incurred”.