World Bank Approves Fresh $500m Loan for FG

The World Bank Group has approved a loan of $500m to help Nigeria drive women’s empowerment.

This became the second loan approved by the World Bank under the new administration of President Bola Tinubu.

It is a scale-up financing for Nigeria for Women Programme, which was initially approved on June 27, 2018, with $100m financing.

A statement by the World Bank explained that the scale-up financing will further support the government of Nigeria to invest in improving the livelihoods of women in Nigeria.

It said the loan will help to ensure better economic opportunities for women, which is essential for addressing gender inequality; guaranteeing better education, health, and nutrition outcomes for families; and building women’s and communities’ resilience to climate change.”

The World Bank stressed the need for the government to address issues that inhibit women’s economic empowerment and hinder inclusive, low-carbon, and resilient economic growth.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri stressed that the women empowerment programme will help improve livelihood opportunities for women and enhance their capacity to adapt to climate change and to participate in local administrations for policymaking related to community empowerment.

Also, the Task Team Leader for Nigeria for Women Project, Michael Ilesanmi, said the Program aims to mobilize poor and vulnerable women into different institutions and, using these institutional platforms, link them to markets as well as financial and non-financial services.