The World Bank has approved a $500 million loan to Nigeria in an effort to promote women’s empowerment.
In a statement, the World Bank announced that it granted the loan to increase financing for the Nigeria Women Programme, which was initially approved on June 27, 2018 with $100 million in financing.
The statement in part reads:
“The World Bank has approved $500m for Nigeria for Women Program Scale Up (NFWP-SU). The scale-up financing will further support the government of Nigeria to invest in improving the livelihoods of women in Nigeria. The NFWP-SU 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.”
This is the second loan approved by the World Bank since Bola Tinubu became president. The loan is an increase in funding for Women’s Empowerment, Health and Nutrition in Nigeria.
It will also support Nigeria’s efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality rates, enhance nutrition outcomes, and expand access to family planning services.
This is not the first time the World Bank has provided Nigeria with financial assistance. In 2017, the African Development Bank contemplated extending Nigeria an additional $400 million loan to support its economic development and recovery.
In 2010, the World Bank granted Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria a multicurrency term loan of $303 million.
Nigeria confronts economic and development challenges, including having one of the world’s largest populations of extremely poor people. The loan will assist Nigeria in addressing some of these challenges and promoting the health and empowerment of women.
