AfDB Launches Economic Support Programme to Give Nigeria over $6 Billion in 5 Years
- President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Agenda is set to get a boost as the African Development Bank has promised yearly support
- The AfDB board of directors approved a strategy paper to release an annual sum of money to be used for certain projects
- AfDB provided more insights into this project and how it could become a game-changer for Nigeria
Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has launched a massive support programme to drive economic growth and strategic development in Nigeria.
AfDB yesterday announced that its Board of Directors had approved a five-year Country Strategy Paper, which will see the development bank committing about $650 million every year between 2025 and 2030.
Source: Getty Images
According to the announcement, the funds are expected to help Nigeria build resilience and foster broad-based prosperity and transformation.
A statement published on the AfDB website on Thursday confirmed that over the first four years, AfDB will give Nigeria about $2.95 billion.
This amount will be complemented by an additional $3.21 billion in co-financing from AfDB’s development partners.
The statement reads in part;
“Under the new strategy, the bank will provide $2.95bn over the first four years, complemented by an estimated $3.21bn in co-financing from development partners.
"The strategy focuses on two key priority areas: promoting sustainable, climate-smart infrastructure to enhance competitiveness and industrial development; and advancing gender and youth-inclusive green growth through industrialisation.”
AfDB seeks to close infrastructure gap in Nigeria
This strategy forms a critical part of the bank to close the $2.3 trillion infrastructure gap in Nigeria, by improving electricity, expanding access to clean water, constructing climate-friendly roads, and supporting agricultural businesses to create jobs and improve food security in Nigeria.
The country strategy paper also supports the goal of making Nigeria a $1 trillion economy and creating 1.56 million jobs through these investments.
It is also in line with Nigeria’s development plans; the National Development Plan 2021–2025, the 2023 Renewed Hope Agenda, and the Agenda 2050, the PUNCH reports.
Nigeria to key into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and enhance market access for agro-entrepreneurs, farmers and businesses, and improve transportation infrastructure and energy access to enhance ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Recall that the AfDB is set to build Africa's largest airport to engender intra-African trade relations.
AfDB supports women entrepreneurs
The AfDB statement also includes targeted support for women entrepreneurs under the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative, while youths would be equipped with critical skills to tackle unemployment.
Speaking about the plan, the Director General of the AfDB’s Nigeria Office, Abdul Kamara, described it as a transformative partnership that would build the pathway to prosperity for millions of Nigerians, particularly the investment in sustainable infrastructure and power systems.
Source: Getty Images
He noted that it would be of great benefit to all Nigerians, strengthening the adaptation efforts to mitigate the impact of floods and drought.
Recall that the AfDB earlier sent a warning about the possible impacts of the tariff war between the United States of America and other countries.
AfDB warns Nigeria against exporting crude oil
In a related Legit.ng report, the AfDB recently warned Nigeria and other African countries to refrain from exporting natural resources in their unrefined states.
AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina noted that this is the reason these countries have remained poor despite the abundance of resources.
He recommended that all resources should go through some refining to add value to them before they are exported.
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Source: Legit.ng
