Nigeria will receive a total of $1.57 billion from the World Bank to enhance human capital by improving health services for women, children, and adolescents. The focus on dam safety and irrigation enhancement will also bolster resilience to climate change impacts like floods and droughts.
Allocation of funds includes $500 million for addressing governance issues hindering the delivery of education and health services (HOPE-GOV), $570 million for the Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Program (HOPE-PHC), and $500 million for the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project (SPIN).
Dr. Ndiamé Diop, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, stressed the importance of investing in Nigerians’ health and education to improve future employment opportunities, productivity, and earnings and reduce poverty, especially among vulnerable populations. He also highlighted the significance of the SPIN program in protecting Nigerians from floods and droughts and increasing hydropower generation.
The combined HOPE-GOV and HOPE-PHC programs aim to assist the government in enhancing service delivery in basic education and primary healthcare, which are crucial for improving Nigeria’s human capital outcomes.
The SPIN project aims to enhance dam safety and water resource management for hydropower and irrigation in specific areas of Nigeria.
The HOPE-GOV Program will focus on rectifying governance weaknesses in government systems and procedures in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors, particularly addressing challenges related to financial and human resource management.
The HOPE-PHC project, aligned with FG’s health sector reforms, aims to enhance the quality and utilization of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition services to reduce maternal and under-five mortality and improve the health system’s resilience. This will benefit 40 million people, especially vulnerable populations.
The project’s funding includes a concessional $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit and an additional $70 million in grant financing from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF), with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Children’s Investment Foundation Fund (CIFF).
The project will benefit up to 950,000 individuals, including households, farmers, and livestock breeders, by providing more reliable, climate-resilient, and efficient irrigation and water supply and increasing agricultural productivity through improved irrigation water management.
Through the SPIN project, the government will create a master plan for hydropower and a structured public-private partnership transaction for a hydropower project.