The administration of President Bola Tinubu has reportedly secured three loans, totalling $1.95 billion from the World Bank since coming into power on May 29, 2023.
According to a report by BusinessDay, the loans are for education ($700 million), power ($750 million), and women empowerment ($500 million).
Data from the Debt Management Office showed Nigeria’s total public debt has increased to N87.37 trillion at the end of June 2023.
This represents a 103.93% year-on-year increase compared to N42.84 trillion in Nigeria’s public debt as of June 2022.
According to the Bank, “The additional financing will scale up project activities from the current seven states to eleven additional states and increase the targeted beneficiaries to include out-of-school girls, those who are married, and those who have disabilities.”
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Meanwhile, data from the Debt Management Office showed that Nigeria has an outstanding external debt of $14.51 billion to the World Bank as of the second quarter of 2023.
The $700 million loan allocated to Nigeria seeks to expand the AGILE projects to eleven states, thereby accommodating more out-of-school children, which had increased due to recurring insecurity crises, especially in the country’s Northern region, the World Bank noted.
The Bank said the AGILE programme had been implemented in seven states, increasing the number of secondary school girls from 900,000 to 1.6 million. These states are Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau.
World Bank said, “Under the programme, over 5,000 classrooms have been renovated, and over 250,000 eligible girls have received scholarships. The AGILE programme has supported the construction and rehabilitation of WASH facilities in secondary schools and the installation of computers and solar panels, making attending school more convenient and conducive for girls and boys. Life skills, systems strengthening, and advocacy are other key aspects of the programme which address social norms impeding girls’ education.”
In June, the international financial institution approved the first loan of $750 million for Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu’s government to boost the country’s power sector through the Power Sector Recovery Performance-Based Operation.
The loan is financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which would provide $449 million, and the International Development Association would provide $301 million.
The Bank said, “Nigeria has the world’s largest absolute electricity access deficit. Lack of access to the electricity grid affects 45 per cent of the population (90 million people), making Nigeria the country with the largest number of people not connected to electricity. As such, Nigeria accounts for 12 per cent of the global access deficit.”
