THE World Bank through the International Development Association (IDA) has approved six projects in Nigeria to be executed in the 2020 fiscal year.

A statement on the official website of the World Bank indicated that the selected projects are to support Nigeria’s development priorities especially in Ogun and other states.

The projects, according to the statement, include improving immunization, enabling a stronger business environment for the private sector, expanding the digital economy to promote job creation, and increasing public and private sector capacity on governance and social and environmental safeguards.

IDA was established by World Bank to assist the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty and improve poor people’s lives.

In the last three years, IDA has committed about $21 billion annually, with about 61 percent of the sum going to Africa, according to the World Bank

“Nigeria is central to the World Bank Group’s mission of tackling extreme poverty. The World Bank is carefully targeting its support on high impact projects as the country works to tackle corruption and lift 100 million of its people out of poverty,” President of World bank group David Malpass said.

Speaking about the projects, Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria said it would “focus squarely on delivering better services for Nigerians: ensuring that children are immunized and sleep under mosquito nets, building better roads especially in rural areas, and providing Nigeria’s poorest citizens with a unique identification that will make social safety nets and services more effective.”

Details of the projects are highlighted below:

Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services

This project is designed to strengthen health systems to deliver effective primary health care and improve immunization, malaria control, and child and maternal health in selected states.

It is financed under concessional terms through an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $650 million.

Nigeria Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project –

The project will upgrade rural roads and improve connectivity and access to local markets and agro-business services in 13 states.

It will upgrade about 1,600 kilometers of rural roads and improve 65 agro-logistics centers.

The project is co-financed through an IDA credit of $280 million, $230 million from the French Development Agency, and $65m from the Nigerian government.

Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project

This project will support the National Identity Management Commission to increase the number of persons who have a national identification number (NIN) reaching about 150 million in the next three years.

This will enable people in Nigeria, especially marginalized groups, to access welfare-enhancing services.

This is co-financed through an IDA credit of $115 million, $100 million from the French Development Agency, and $215 million from the European Investment Bank.

Ogun State Economic Transformation Project

It targets private investment in Ogun State by improving the business environment, strengthening the linkages between agricultural producers, suppliers and service providers, and providing training and apprenticeships for women and farmers.

This is financed through an IDA credit of $250 million.

Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills Project

The project will strengthen the skills of 50,000 Nigerian students and enhance the capacity of technical teachers to better equip them for jobs in the formal and informal sectors.

The project aims to increase the female enrollment rate from 13 percent to 23 percent in technical colleges and provide recognized skills and certification to 3,000 youth after they complete an informal apprenticeship.

This is financed through an IDA credit of $200 million.

Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement Project

This will strengthen capacity in managing procurement, environmental and social standards in the public and private sectors.

The project will enhance the skills of over 21,000 people and help 4,000 professionals become certified in procurement, environment and social standards.

The project will help tackle corruption and the risk of environmental or social harm as investments are implemented. This is financed through an IDA credit of $80 million.