The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to Nigeria has cumulatively extended to about $11.465 billion credit.

The IMF in April released $3.4 billion to the government under the Rapid Financing Instrument which Nigeria applied for in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Bank in May released $176 million of additional financing for the Strengthening, Recovery and Peace building in the Northeast. The fund was meant to “scale-up its efforts in supporting these communities.

To boost states capacity for covid-19 response, on August 7 the World Bank Board of Directors approved $114.28 million financing to help Nigeria prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 with a specific focus on state level responses.

This includes $100 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) and $14.28 million grant from the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility.

Earlier in the year, under the “World Bank help to countries with coronavirus, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) used its fast-track COVID-19 facility for Nigeria to help small and medium-sized enterprises in several sectors that face working-capital or trade-finance challenges through a combined $200 million loan to FCMB, Access and Zenith banks.

In February, the World Bank approved six projects to support Nigeria’s development priorities. The projects were: Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services through IDA credit valued at $650 million; the Nigeria Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, co-financed through an IDA credit of $280 million, $230 million from the French Development Agency, and $65million from the Government of Nigeria.

The Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project is another project by the World Bank and co-financed through an IDA credit of $115 million, $100 million from the French Development Agency, and $215 million from the European Investment Bank.

The other February projects are the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project, financed through an IDA credit of $250 million; Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills Project, financed through an IDA credit of $200 million and the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement Project financed through an IDA credit of $80 million.

In addition to the $8.4 billion facilities extended to Nigeria this year, the World Bank on Tuesday approved another $3 billion for the country. In a statement yesterday the World Bank said its board approved the $1.5 billion for two projects.

These are: An International Development Association (IDA) credit of $750 million ‘Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus – Programme for Results (Nigeria CARES)’.

“This programme will help increase access to social transfers and basic services, as well as provide grants to poor and vulnerable households. It will also strengthen food supply chains for poor households while facilitating recovery and enhancing capabilities of MSMEs. This is financed through” the World Bank said.

The second is another International Development Association (IDA) credit of $750 million for ‘State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Program for Results (SFTAS)’.

This facility is to build “on the progress made across 36 States, the original SFTAS program will be expanded and scaled up in response to COVID-19”.

“The Additional Financing will help meet the financing gap in the Programme Expenditure Framework, due to the sharp reduction in government revenues associated with the crisis”.

It will also “help increase the efficiency in spending, strengthen revenue mobilization, and enhance accountability and transparency in public resource management to further strengthen state-level COVID-19 response”.

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