By Tonia Okereke
The World Bank has approved three loans totaling $1.08bn to support education, nutrition, and economic interventions in Nigeria.
The World Bank announced the loan grant in a statement on its website on Wednesday, the concessional loans are aimed at improving the quality of education, building household and community resilience, and enhancing nutrition for underserved groups.
“The World Bank has approved three operations in Nigeria, totalling $1.08bn in concessional financing, to enhance education quality, build household and community resilience, and improve nutrition for underserved groups”, the statement read.
The approved operations include $500m in additional financing for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme, $80m for Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRIN 2.0), and $500m for the Hope for Quality Basic Education for All (HOPE-EDU) initiative.
The Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria programme aims to enhance the use of quality nutrition services for pregnant women, lactating mothers, adolescent girls, and children under five.
The intervention is designed to improve maternal and child health, nutrition services, and food security in selected areas. The programme aligns with Nigeria’s National Development Plan (2021–2025) and the Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition, focusing on preventive and curative nutrition interventions, improved feeding practices, and increased access to micronutrient-rich foods.
ANRIN 2.0 builds on the success of the initial programme, which delivered nutrition services to over 13 million children under five between 2018 and 2024.
The HOPE-EDU initiative, which forms part of a series of interrelated operations, will support foundational literacy and numeracy, enhance access to basic education, and strengthen education systems across participating states.
The project is expected to directly benefit 29 million public primary school pupils, 500,000 teachers, and more than 65,000 public primary schools. The initiative will also address issues related to school overcrowding and decentralised allocation of education funds. HOPE-EDU will receive additional funding of $52.18m from the Global Partnership for Education Fund.
Commenting on the initiative, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Ndiamé Diop, said, “Investing in human capital is critical for Nigeria as it offers the best opportunity to unlock the enormous potential of Nigeria.
“These new programmes will help accelerate education quality and support vulnerable citizens. The HOPE-EDU programme will enable better education outcomes by implementing bold reforms and making the right investments to equip the fast-growing young population with foundational skills necessary for rapid and inclusive economic growth.”
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