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World Bank seeks swifter debt relief for poorest nations

May 20, 2020May 19, 2020 Tony Chukwunyem

The World Bank has called on private creditors and the world’s poorest nations to speed up debt relief talks to help mobilise resources to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Group of 20 largest economies agreed in April to suspend about $20 billion in debt servicing payments for 73 nations, more than half of them in Africa. The group has urged private creditors to do the same, but efforts have been delayed by legal hurdles and the risk of triggering default. African governments, who are negotiating the relief with a…

World Bank flays Nigeria’s health, education budget

October 12, 2018October 12, 2018 Ayodele Aminu

…ranks nation low at 152 in human capital index IMF backs CBN’s tight monetary stance The World Bank has decried Nigeria’s budget for health and educational outcomes, describing them as “just far too low’ and “very, very poor’ respectively. The multilateral institutions boss, Jim Yong Kim, also said it was unfortunate that Nigeria, one of the most important countries not only in Africa but the world, ranked 152 out of 157 nations graded in human capital development index. But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) backed the Central Bank…

World Bank supports Nigeria with $611m to get children back to school

August 11, 2018August 10, 2018 Online Editor

The World Bank will support Nigeria with $611 million to get children back to school under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme. The Coordinator, Prof. Gidado Tahir, who made this known in Kaduna yesterday at a meeting with officials of Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), on modalities for the implementation of the programme, said the project was being supported by the World Bank to tackle the problem of out-of-school children in the country. According to him, the alarming rate of out-ofschool children has remained a…

FG seeks World Bank’s help on power sector challenge

August 3, 2018August 2, 2018 Abdulwahab Isa

The Nigeria government is seeking help from the World Bank to tackle challenges in power sector, which it says was a key factor to accelerating Gross Domestic Product(GDP). The Federal Government’s request to the global bank was conveyed yesterday by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, at a meeting in Abuja with the World Bank’s Vice- President for Africa Mr. Hafez Ghanem. Nigeria is at the moment battling acute challenges in the power sector. The Ministry of Power is currently locked in controversy with the Electricity Distribution firms. Ghanem…

World Bank appoints Nigerian into advisory council

July 23, 2018July 22, 2018 Online Editor

The World Bank has appointed Muhammad Abdullahi, Kaduna State Commissioner for Planning and Budget, as a member of its expert advisory council on citizen engagement. The lender noted in a statement that Abdullahi, a development economist, would join five new appointees on the council. It stated that Abdullahi and other appointees would advise on development and implementation of a strategic framework for mainstreaming citizen engagement in World Bank Group operations. Abdullahi, according to the statement, has over a decade of experience in development policy formulation, public finance and project implementation.…

World Bank earmarks N216bn for 579 road projects in Niger

July 3, 2018July 2, 2018 Dan Atori Minna

The World Bank has earmarked over N216 billion ($60million) for the construction of 579 kilometres of rural roads under the Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP) across 25 local government areas of Niger state Making this disclosure yesterday at Kompanin Bobi in Mariga local government area of the state, RAMP national coordinator, Alhaji Uban Doma said that already 176 kilometres had been constructed in addition to 30 river crossing during the first phase of the project. According to him, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello had flagged off the construction and rehabilitation of…

World Bank approves $2.1bn loans for Nigeria’s power, other projects

June 29, 2018June 28, 2018 Tony Chukwunyem

The World Bank yesterday announced that it had approved a total of $2.1 billion in concessionary loans to fund projects in Nigeria aimed at improving access to electricity and promoting governance. The projects approved by the International Development Association (IDA), the bank’s low-interest arm, are expected to support Nigeria’s economic growth plan. Growth rates in Nigeria have bounced back since the third quarter of 2016, when a recession, its first in 25 years, bottomed out. Growth returned largely due to higher oil prices, with the country relying on crude sales…

World Bank lauds FG’s economic reforms

May 11, 2018May 10, 2018 Anule Emmanuel

The World Bank group has commended the Federal Government in its economic policies towards transforming the country. World Bank Group Executive Director for Italy, Mr. Patrizio Pagano, who stated this yesterday after a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the Bank would fully support the country in achieving sustainable growth. Pagano had led a delegation of senior officials from the World Bank to meet with the Vice President at the presidential villa, Abuja. He said: “It is important that the government keeps pushing on reforms, in particular its sustainability…

World Bank: Migrants sent record $466bn home in 2017

April 24, 2018April 23, 2018 Correspondents

The world’s 266 million migrant workers sent a record $466 billion to developing countries last year following two consecutive declines and the money bound for home this year is projected to increase to $485 billion, according to the World Bank. “The overall recovery in remittances is better than we expected. It is driven by stronger growth in the European Union, the Russian Federation, and the United States. The rebound in remittances, when valued in U.S. dollars, was helped by higher oil prices and a strengthening of the euro and ruble,”…

World Bank: Nigeria, others not ready for digital economy

April 20, 2018April 19, 2018 Ayodele Aminu

Elumelu links obstacles to poor infrastructure Nigeria and other economies in Africa are not showing enough commitment to compete in a digital world, World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim has said. He said this yesterday during a press conference at the ongoing World Bank/ International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, United States. Specifically, he said that political leaders in the continent are not prepared to compete in the world of digital technology. Kim said: “We are extremely concerned that many African countries are not prepared to…