The World Bank Votes $300m to Tackle Poverty in Nigeria

The World Bank has concluded arrangements to commit the sum of $300 million credit to Nigeria, to tackle poverty particularly among the vulnerable, through a new project tagged: “Youth Employment and Social Support Operation.”

Consequently, the board of the bank is to give approval for the release of the credit tomorrow for the project to flag off in April this year.

The project specifically targeted at the poorest of the poor is the Breton Wood institution’s new strategy to combat poverty through prosperity sharing, by identifying the core vulnerable in the society and empowering them, explained Dr. (Ms.) Ritva Reinkka , the bank’s director for the Human Development Group in the Africa Region who addressed the press at the end of a five day working visit to the country .

Although, 20 States in the country have indicated interest to participate in the project, the pilot scheme is to commence in seven namely: Bauchi, Niger, Cross River, Ekiti; Osun, Oyo and Kwara.

Under the scheme, the vulnerable will be identified and selected for the purpose of conditional cash transfer under the social safety programme like public works and skilled acquisition programs as an empowerment tool to give them a lift in life.

Ms. Reinkka expressed concern that although Nigeria is recording growth, it is not inclusive, because there is still wide disparity between the haves and the have-nots in the country.

According to her, “there is a lot more that needs to be done to have inclusive growth in Nigeria and scale up on child and maternal mortality rate and the quality of education. It is disturbing that about 10 million kids are dropping out of schools in Nigeria.

Nigeria does have a special challenge in this regard because it is one of the countries in the region with the biggest challenge in this regard. There is a big issue concerning the quality of education. There is a concern that your education leaders and leaders in finance are doing well but a lot still needs to be done.

“In health, what we see in Africa is that under-five death is reducing. We are hoping that Nigeria will join other 14 countries that have halved the Under-five mortality rate.

“We are also concerned about the growing inequality and the different income and human development indicators between the North and the South of Nigeria. That is why social protection and safety are now a reality in Africa; we are going to the bank’s board for approval of a $300 million next week for social safety in Nigeria.

This is in line with the the thinking of our President, a Medical Doctor who sees himself as a civil society activist, as he is shifting emphasis from inputs and consultancy to results and output. He has been shaping our thinking to accelerate the speed to poverty reduction,” the visiting Director further said.