In a recent statement, the World Bank announced its intention to bolster financial assistance to Nigeria, particularly focusing on key areas crucial to the nation’s economy.
During a visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House in Abuja, the Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank, Anna Bjerde, underscored this commitment.
Bjerde emphasised the Bank’s ongoing support for the reform initiatives undertaken by President Tinubu’s administration, highlighting the utilisation of supportive instruments to this end.
“The World Bank will continue to support the reforms of President Tinubu’s administration through the supportive instrument that we have, and we will be stepping up our financial support to Nigeria in line with all the different initiatives that are being taken and all the needs that the economy has,” stated Bjerde.
Expressing confidence in the trajectory of collaboration, Bjerde hinted at the expansion of ongoing programmes between the World Bank and the Nigerian government.
So while we already have large programe , from this visit, we already see that the programme will grow from there. I have been pleased with the discussions we had over the last meeting with the President,” added Bjerde.
In a related development, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, highlighted Nigeria’s role in hosting a regional summit of finance ministers from West and Central Africa in conjunction with key stakeholders such as the World Bank and other multilateral investment guarantee agencies.
Edun underscored the summit’s focus on developmental priorities and the imperative of augmenting concessional financing for the region.
“We had a mini-summit, and issues of development and increasing the level of concessional financing to West and Central Africa were on the agenda, and we reported to the President that we had a robust discussion,” explained Edun.
He further emphasised Nigeria’s advocacy for increased resource allocation towards vital sectors, aiming to foster socioeconomic advancement and alleviate poverty across the region.