World Bank approves new $700m loan for Nigeria
In a move to empower and uplift adolescent girls in Nigeria, the World Bank has granted a fresh loan of $700 million.
This funding will be allocated to the ongoing Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment project, aiming to enhance educational opportunities for girls in targeted states.
With the additional financing, the project will expand its reach from seven states to eleven, encompassing out-of-school girls, married girls, and girls with disabilities.
This expansion is crucial, considering the alarming number of 12 to 15 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, particularly in the northern regions.
The World Bank also highlighted the impact of increased insecurity on education, affecting approximately one million children in 2020-2021.
The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, stated the importance of closing gender gaps by ensuring girls have access to education and skills.
“Closing the gender gaps in economic empowerment by ensuring girls have access to education and skills is key for Nigeria’s development and economic prosperity”, he said.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration got a $750 million loan from the World Bank on June 9, 2023, to boost Nigeria’s power sector.
Also, the government secured another $500 million loan from the World Bank to help Nigeria drive women’s empowerment, and it was approved on June 22, 2023.
Meanwhile, the positive outcomes of the AGILE program are already evident in the seven implementing states, where the number of girls in secondary schools has risen from 900,000 to over 1.6 million.
Furthermore, the project has successfully renovated 5,000 classrooms and provided scholarships to more than 250,000 eligible girls. The AGILE program has also prioritised the improvement of school facilities, including WASH facilities, computers, and solar panels, creating a more conducive learning environment for both girls and boys.
“The World Bank approved additional financing of $700m for Nigeria to scale up the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme, whose goal is to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in targeted states.
“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,” it said.
The bank noted that Nigeria had over 12 million to 15 million out-of-school children in the school-age group, with many of them in Northern Nigeria.
Accordingly, the World Bank added that an estimated one million children were affected by increased insecurity around schools in 2020-2021.
“In the seven AGILE programmes implementing states – Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau – the number of girls in secondary schools has increased from about 900,000 to over 1.6 million.
“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 program which address social norms impeding girls’ education,” it added.
