NIGERIA has requested a six-month extension from the World Bank to complete a $132.42 million loan under the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project.
By this request, the federal government seeks to extend the completion date from June 30, 2025, to December 31, 2025.
Recall that in February 2020, the World Bank approved the IDEAS project designed to improve Nigeria’s skills development system both in the formal and informal sectors. The project became effective on March 15, 2021, with the original closing date set for June 30, 2025.
In the last mid-term review conducted between October and December 2023, approximately $40.42 million of the $132.42 million has been disbursed, with a balance of $92 million remaining.
However, following a restructuring paper issued on June 29, 2024 by the Nigerian government, the project shifted focus towards results-based contracting (RBC) for demand-driven training (DDT), specifically targeting literate and numerate youth. The restructuring also resulted in a partial cancellation of about $70 million of the project funds.
This review included the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Employment Skills Acquisition Fund (NYESAF), designed to provide around 75,000 youth with market-relevant skills.
The extension request is targeted at completing the NYESAF activities which involves three phases of training and independent verification of results.
According to a report Nigeria was the third-largest debtor to the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) as of June 30, 2024. The World Bank’s financial statements reveal that Nigeria’s exposure to the IDA rose by 14.4 per cent from $14.3 billion in the fiscal year (FY) of 2023 to $16.5 billion in FY2024.
The additional $2.2 billion increase places Nigeria among the top three IDA debtors for the first time.
The ICIR reported that the total public debt portfolio of the country rose by 24.99 per cent in a space of three months to N121.67 trillion as of March 31, 2024, according to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO).
External debt rose to N56.02 trillion or $42.12 billion, representing a 46.57 per cent increase compared to N38.22 trillion or $42.495 billion the debt office declared as of December 31, 2023.
Also, domestic debt rose to N65.65 trillion or $49.35 billion, representing an 11.05 per cent increase relative to N59.12 trillion or $65.73 billion as of December 31, 2023.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale