World Bank to deliver first tranche of $3bn loan to Nigeria

The World Bank has confirmed the first tranche of a $3bn loan to Nigeria will be approved imminently and delivered to the Nigerian government later this year.

The international lender said that discussions had reached an advanced stage but did not confirm how much it would approve in the first tranche. Experts say Nigeria could expect up to $1.5bn. 

The Bank’s Senior External Affairs Officer to Nigeria, Mansur Nasir, told reporters that “the Bank is currently working with the Federal Government to prepare the first operation/loan in the package of financing support discussed at the 2019 Annual Meetings in Washington”. 

Mr Nasir indicated that the first tranche is expected to be approved in 2020 but added that this was dependent on continued conversations with Nigeria’s federal government. 

Nigeria first submitted its request for a loan at the joint annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April 2019. The government said the loan would be earmarked for developments to Nigeria’s energy sector: improving distribution and bringing an end to the current subsidy programme. 

The Nigerian finance ministry has said the loan would also allow the government to pay several of the energy sector’s outstanding debts. 

Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed also said that were the loan extended to $4bn, the extra cash would be used to upgrade the country’s energy distribution network. 

Photo: leadership.ng