Power sector, others to get massive investments as Nigerian govt approves use of N$3.45bn W’Bank loan

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Monday, approved a $3.45 billion World Bank loan facility that would be used to provide concessionary finance for infrastructure projects across the power, renewable energy, and education for young girls, among other programmes.

The revelation was made on Monday, just after the FEC meeting, by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

He gave hints that the credit facility also included cash for the states’ resource mobilisation programmes, which will aid them in their efforts to produce domestic revenue.

Edun further disclosed that the credit facility had a 10-year initial moratorium and charged the Nigerian government a relatively low interest rate.

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The Minister 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 a funding for states for resource mobilization program 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 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 $3.45billion. 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”.

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