World Bank pledges $2.1bn to rebuild ravaged N’East

The World Bank unveiled a plan to grant Nigeria a $2.1 billion loan to rebuild infrastructure in the Boko Haram ravaged North Eastern zone.

The plan, was revealed at a meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and officials of the bank, yesterday in Washington, DC. United States.

Buhari, who is on a four-day official visit to United States, which began on Monday had earlier met with President Barack Obama, where ways of ending the Boko Haram insurgency were discussed.

According to a statement by Buhari’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, the funds would be spent through the World Bank’s International Development Agency in the form of low-interest loans, which will be interest-free for the first 10 years and then accrue at a below market rate thereafter.

The statement added that President Buhari stressed the need to incorporate into the plan, the resettlement of the more than one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the affected zone.

Read also: Boko Haram: GEJ wishes Buhari well

Representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) present at the meeting said that their organization would also spend $300 million on malaria immunization in Nigeria.

Additionally, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Dangote Foundation said they would collaborate on the fight against polio in the country, which could soon be declared polio-free.

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