The World Bank has granted a year extension for the Nigeria COVID-19 Recovery and Economic programme.
The “NG-CARES” program, which Clem Agba, Minister of State for Finance, Budget, and National Planning, announced in Benin, Edo State, will run from June 2023 to June 2024.
Agba, who added that Nigeria still needs $750m loan from the bank for three basic areas impacted by the deadly virus, explained that the extension was because of the need to bridge food security gaps caused by the 2022 floods.
He said: “Due to last year’s floods that affected food security and the supply chain, we approached the World Bank for an extension of the programme from June 2023 to June 2024.”
Agba, who chairs the Federal CARES Steering Committee (FCSC), recalled that the Federal Government gave 34 states N1 billion each while Lagos State, the epicentre of the virus received N10 billion.
He also stated that Kano State and the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) which were also epicentres of COVID-19 got a little less than Lagos State.
The minister hinted that there was approval to give cash advances to the states since many of them would by May 29 have new governors.
His words: “The effects of COVID-19 still live with us, and that is where the NG-CARES programme is still very apt.
“We can recall that the COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged many economies in the world, had devastating consequences on the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable individuals, formal and informal businesses, especially the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“So, it was very important that these livelihoods should be kept alive, that people are able to keep their jobs at least, if not create new ones.
“We gave N1 billion to each of the 36 states of Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the exception of Lagos that got N10 billion, Kano got a little more, and the FCT, because those are epicentres of the pandemic, we still have to get the $750 million World Bank loan to support the states in three basic areas.
“I also sought another approval and that has been approved because I realised that the transition is so near. By May 29, 2023, you are going to have a new set of governors in most parts of the country, and for governors to be struggling through the limited funding that they have and how to appropriate all of this and considering the fact that we are extending this programme by one year, I have also got the approval from the World Bank to do another set of advanced disbursement to the 36 states.
“The Federal Government wishes once again to restate its commitment to restoring the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable Nigerians, and maintain food security and facilitate the recovery of MSMEs.”
The minister stated that the NG-CARES was meant to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), to cushion the effects of COVID-19, which the World Health Organisation recently declared as over.
Discussion about this post