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Tag: world bank

  • World Bank: 90% of Nigerians lack access to clean water

    The percentage of Nigerians that have access to clean water have reduced from 29 per cent to 10 per cent, statistics released by the World Bank has shown.

    In the report, Nigerians and some other countries failed to maintain infrastructure or struggled to cope with growing populations during the review year, adding that in Haiti, only seven per cent of households had clean tap water, compared to 15 per cent previously.

    “Water and sanitation services need to improve dramatically or the consequences on health and well-being will be dire,” a report by Reuters quoted the Nigeria’s Country Director, World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud, as saying.

    Countries would have to quadruple their spending to $150billion a year to deliver universal safe water and sanitation, helping to reduce childhood diseases and deaths while boosting economic growth, the World Bank said.

    The bank also said in the report that investments should be better coordinated and targeted to enable services to reach the most vulnerable, and that governments would have to engage the private sector more closely to meet the high costs.

    “Millions are currently trapped in poverty by poor water supply and sanitation,” the Senior Director of the World Bank’s Global Water Practice,  Guangzhe Chen, said in a statement.

    He sai: “More resources, targeted to areas of high vulnerability and low access, are needed to close the gaps and improve poor water and sanitation services.”

    According to the World Bank, the high cost of clean water risks jeopardising the ability of countries to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of providing access to safe and affordable sanitation for all by 2030.

    It noted that more than three quarters of those without clean water supplies lived in rural areas, where only 20 per cent had access to “improved sanitation”.

  • ‘World Bank’ll improve literacy rate among school-age children’

    ‘World Bank’ll improve literacy rate among school-age children’

    The World Bank Group said on Tuesday that it would continue to support Nigeria toward boosting the literacy rate especially among school-age children.

    Dr Olatunde Adekola, the Senior Education Specialist, African Region of the World Bank, made this known in a sideline interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the ongoing 10th Pan African Literacy for all Conference, Abuja 2017.

    NAN reports that the conference was organised by the Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN) with support from the International Literacy Association, and the Federal Ministry of Education, among others.

    “World Bank is more than 100 per cent in support of what RAN is doing. We believe in this effort and for the World Bank, we will continue to support the country to enhance literacy.

    “This is because literacy is a critical determinant of a country’s economy, growth, development and standard of living of the people.

    “There is need for concrete action to strengthen the literacy systems, policies, structures and the desire for the achievement of sustainable development goals.

    “There is need to think through holistic approach to providing inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels especially for the vulnerable groups and particularly, the girl child,” Adekola said.

    The World Bank official added that it had inaugurated a one-million dollar project to enhance literacy in the northern parts of the country.

    According to him, the project is a global partnership for education tagged ‘Nigeria Partnership for Education’.

    He said: “It is carried out by the World Bank and other development partners such as USAID, UNICEF and DFID in the North West of the country.

    “The focus of the project is first, to strengthen the government systems to deliver basic education for the children by improving the basic education service delivery especially at the early primary level.

    “The second focus is to improve both the supply side and the demand side of education in particular for girls.’’

    The education specialist noted that it was not enough to enrol children in school, as they would also need to be provided with the right type of learning environment to ensure proper learning.

    He said the project involved “Conditional Cash Transfer” whereby girls would be given scholarships to enrol in school and study for three years at the primary school level.

    “We also give scholarship to teachers who do not have the National Certificate of Education so that in the next three years they can attend College of Education and obtain the certificate.

    “We also provide materials. All these are to make sure that we improve literacy and numeracy at a very early stage of their education, especially in the first three years.

    “The project has a life span of four years. We are almost two years into it now.

    “We still have about two more years and the outcome is very good because we are now seeing more girls in school.

    “Nevertheless, we need partnerships, collaboration and cooperation between and within state and non-state actors to address the issue of literacy as a tool for problem-solving.

    “However, we will continue to support the country to enhance the literacy level in the country,” he explained.

    Adekola, who is also the Task Team Leader for the Global Partnership for Education in Nigeria, the conference would focus more on literacy, reading, language and learning issues.

    He stated that the idea is to ensure that children become familiar with the language in which they will be taught as a step toward improving their literacy.

  • Plateau gets $1.5m for Save One Million Lives programme

    Plateau gets $1.5m for Save One Million Lives programme

    The Plateau Government says it has received 1.5 million dollars for its Save One Million Lives programme for Results (SOML) funded by the Federal Government and World Bank.

    The state Programme Manager of the Save One Million Lives for Results, Mr Philimeon Dagwa‎, disclosed this on Monday in Jos at the opening of the Integrated Supportive Supervision training workshop it organised for 82 health workers in ‎the state.

    Dagwa explained that the ‎grant was received through the state Ministry of Health for implementation of the programme.

    Accroding to him, SOML provides incentives based on achievement of results (health outcomes) and helps to drive institutional processes needed to achieve these results.

    He disclosed that the programme seeks to catalyze change in the way health business is done by focusing on results and governance.

    The programme manager disclosed that the ‎ programme was focused on six pillars; including improving Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), improving routine immunisation coverage and achieving polio eradication.

    Others are the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, scaling up access to essential medicines and commodities, malaria control and improving child nutrition.

    He said that the programme represents a bold attempt to improve maternal and child health outcomes so that they are more in keeping with the country’s level of wealth.

    He said it also intends for the health sector to contribute to the economic and social development of Nigeria instead of being a drag on its growth.

    “This would bring about a re orientation of service delivery to results rather than just inputs,” he said.

    He enjoined the health workers participating in the training to ensure that they imbibe the knowledge and skills as they would train others at their various health centres in the state.

    The three-day training will end on Aug. 30.

  • ILO, World Bank okay AEDC working conditions

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank, have certified the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company’s (AEDC) staff conditions of service document.

    The company’s Director, Corporate Services,  Abimbola Odubiyi stated this to representatives of the Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) at the weekend in Abuja.

    Shedding light on the document that is valid till 2022, he explained that it was meant for a good working relationship between the unions and the management.

    He said: “The pillar of the document is workers’ welfare, safety, and remuneration based on performance.”

    Its implementation, according to him, shall be through consultations.

    NUEE General Secretary, Comrade Joseph Ajaero and SSAEAC President-General, Comrade Chris Okonkwo signed for their respective unions.

  • 300 to benefit from $200m World Bank grant in Osun

    In a bid to boost food security, the Osun State government, in partnership with the World Bank has trained over 300 youths across the state on the FADAMA III programme.

    Tagged FADAMA III AF Graduate Unemployed Youth and Women Support (FADAMA GUYS), the programme was designed to educate the youths on both theory and practical procedures in getting the best from various agricultural enterprises. The programme also focused on building the participants’ knowledge and capacity in managing their farming businesses if supported by the government.

    The training programme afforded the participants drawn all council areas of state the opportunity to get first-hand training from experts in the agriculture sector. The participants were taught the rudiments of soil, fish farming, crop production, animal husbandry and other practical trainings as well as research experiments.

    The programme, which held from July 17 to 28, also provided the participants a platform to write examination and business plans to be sent to the national headquarters of the World Bank in Nigeria to ensure they benefitted from the agency’s $200 million grant facilitated by the Osun State government.

    At the closing ceremony held at the Conference Room of the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where certificates were presented to the participants, representatives of the state government and technical facilitators for the training took turns to advise them. The programme Manager, FADAMA III AF in Osun State, Dr. Ganiyu Adediji, said the training was the first step in selecting the beneficiaries of the World Bank grant.

    According to him, only 200 out of the 300 that participated in the programme will be shortlisted to benefit from the $200 million World Bank grant to begin their own businesses based on what they had learnt during the two-week capacity building programme.

    Dr. Adediji urged the FADAMA GUYS to be proactive, resilient and put in good use the knowledge they had gained from the experts in order to make an impact in the society and be of benefit to themselves and their immediate families.

    He, however, praised Governor Rauf Aregbesola for sustaining the programme, warning participants against sharp practices when utilising the funds to be given them as support grants.

    The Programme Manager and Managing Director of Osun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OSSADEP), Alhaji Mukaila Omisore, who noted that the benefits of boosting national food security could not be understated, said  a nation that is not capable to feeding its citizens is a failed entity. He, therefore, said Governor Aregbesola is in a right direction for creating a vibrant agricultural sector in Osun State.

    In his speech, the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Prof A.A. Amusan, expressed his appreciation to the Federal Government for supporting unemployed graduates and for providing opportunities for them to create jobs and guarantee food security for the nation. He also urged participants to carefully optimise the gains of their training.

    Two of the participants, Adekunle Babatunde and Ajagun Jumoke, on behalf of others, expressed their readiness to make reasonable impact on the society.

    Prof. Duro Oyedele and Prof. Akeem Tijani were among the training facilitators at the programme.

  • TCN secures donors’ $1.55b for grid expansion

    TCN secures donors’ $1.55b for grid expansion

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has secured $1.55billion from multilateral donors to revive some projects and expand the grid.

    Its Interim Managing Director, Usman Gur Mohammed made this known to reporters during the 18th Monthly Power Sector and Stakeholder meeting in Kumboso, Kano State.

    He noted that the intervention came from the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European Union and Japan International Corporation Agency (JAICA).

    He said that “the strategy is that we have approached the multilateral donors and we have been able to raise some significant money. We have also resuscitated some project that has not been doing well, like the Abuja transmission project which is supposed to provide three sub- stations and provide another avenue for supply through Abuja from Lafia.

    “We have also resuscitated the JAICA project that has been on the drawing board for  a long some time now, those two projects, plus the projects is about 1.55 billion dollars   which is coming from the world bank , the African Development Bank the Islamic  Development Bank, JAICA itself, and the European union is also giving us a grant.”

    He recalled that when he assumed office he discovered that TCN capacity to wheel power is actually higher than the capacity that the distribution companies (DisCos).

    According to him, there was need for grid expansion and cash paucity, which made it expedient that the TCN had to seek the support of the Federal Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Power to raise money from donor agencies.

    He revealed that “we have a stranded  load  generation  of  about 2,000 megawatts, this is not healthy  for the development of the sector, as time goes on if  we can’t pick those  generation it means that we are going to kill investment in the generation section.

    “On growing the load and avoid load rejection, we are working with Discos to see how to improve their capacity and we have appointed, Interface focal officers to help the DiSCos pick more load.”

    He noted that the company last week advertised transformer capacity for Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Shiroro region.

    He said that TCN is now working towards realizing 20,000 megawatts of transmission capacity in the next few years.

    The Interim Managing Director pointed out that right of way has become a crucial challenge in the power sector which has resulted in a study by the West African Power Pool on the line from the Birnin- kebbi boarder of Nigeria from.

    He pointed out that since the payment of compensation for right of ways Nigeria has become a crucial problem, the TCN has started collaborating with State governments.

    Continuing, he said that : “We are collaborating with states in every areas that we  are  putting  a significant transmission capacity.  We are working to expand  the lines from Shiroro  to Kaduna, and from Kaduna to Kano, and we are putting a code line that will carry 2,400MW capacity, we have never had  that kind of line in Nigeria.

    “But we need to collaborate with sates and we have stated with Kaduna, the governor of Kaduna  is the one that is even paying the compensation  for some of the places where we are putting  sub –stations in Kaduna.”

    The Governor of Kano State, according to him, is also supporting TCN on the right  of ways  between Kano and Kaduna border.

    The company, he added, is also working with the governors of Abia,  Lagos,  Imo and Ogun states to enhance transmission capacity .

  • $60m World Bank project for Abia

    $60m World Bank project for Abia

    Abia State has received $60 million (about N21 billion) to execute a World Bank-assisted Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP), Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has said.

    He spoke in Umuahia at a one-day workshop for stakeholders, organised by the state RAMP, on “The prioritisation of intervention areas and rural road links in Abia”.

    Represented by Commissioner for Finance Obinna Oriaku, Ikpeazu said World Bank approved the facility to build rural link roads.

    He urged benefiting communities to cooperate with the contractors to ensure quick completion.

    The governor admonished the communities not to demand “marching ground” from the contractors.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports “marching ground” is money demanded by youths before allowing project development in their areas.

    Ikpeazu said the state received $56 million from the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP).

    He said erosion sites were receiving attention from NEWMAP facility.

    RAMP National Coordinator Mr. Ubandoma Ularamu said a 500-km road linking communities would be built of targeted 900-km roads.

    He said the roads, which led to markets, hospitals and cottage industries, were selected because of their economic importance.

  • Yobe, World Bank, others support IDPs with farm inputs for economic recovery

    Yobe, World Bank, others support IDPs with farm inputs for economic recovery

    Yobe Government in collaboration with the World Bank and humanitarian agencies had supported returnee displaced persons and those still in camp with farm inputs to enable them to engage in agricultural activities toward economic recovery.

    Alhaji Musa Jidawa, Permanent Secretary, Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu on Sunday.

    Jidawa said the state government had provided 300 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with farmlands, tractors seeds and fertilisers.

    He said the UNDP in collaboration with Japanese Government, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the Victims Support Fund (VSF) had also supported the IDPs with cash, improved seeds, fertilisers and livestock.

    The World Bank Fadama lll Additional Financing ll project on its part, has supported vulnerable persons and IDPs with agricultural inputs, livestock, poultry and inputs for fish farming under the North- East food security and livelihood support project.

    Alhaji Musa Garba, the State Project Coordinator, Fadama lll AF ll, said the Yobe Government had paid N20 million counterpart fund for the project with 5,000 households expected to benefit from the programme.

    Garba said over 2,000 vulnerable households from Gujba, Gulani, Nangere, Bade, Jakusko,Yunusari, Giedam and Potiskum local government areas had already benefitted from the projects.

    “Those in irrigation farming were provided with water pump machines, sprayers, fertilisers and herbicides, we also supported poultry farmers with birds and feeds.

    “The livestock beneficiaries were supported with a set of three She-goats and one He-goat or, three sheep and two rams per household.

    “It is very encouraging that the poultry farmers have started selling eggs to improve their economy, while the goats have started multiplying,” he said.

    The project coordinator said foodstuff such as rice, beans, maize and vegetable oil were also provided to the benefitting households to protect the water pumps, birds and the livestock from being sold off.

    Malam Wakil Kaigama, a farmer in Bumsa village, said, “I have expanded my rice farm and established a banana plantation with support from Fadama lll AF ll.

    “Each of the 20 Fadama lll beneficiaries in this village received a water pump machine, seeds, sprayers, herbicides and pesticides,’’ Kaigama said.

    Abdu Liman, a poultry farmer in Buni-Gari, said he was supported with 40 hybrid poultry layers.
    “My family members now eat eggs daily, and we also sell a cartoon of eggs every day,” Liman said.

  • ‘World Bank waiting for Katampe PPP project’

    The Acting Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Chidi Izuwa, has disclosed that the World Bank is waiting for the success of the Katampe District Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) engineering infrastructure project as a model which it can spread round the world.

    Izuwa revealed this in his remark at the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Implementation Committee on the Report of the Audit of the Structure and Financing of the PPP Project for the Development of Engineering Infrastructure at Katampe District, Phase 2, of Abuja.

    In his words, it is “because of the uniqueness of Katampe PPP project, especially the land value capture that the World Bank is still waiting for the success of the project as a model which it can spread to the world.”

    Izuwa counselled that the PPP project is the only option for meeting the infrastructure deficit in the FCT given that only 11 of the 72 districts in the FCT has full infrastructure. He noted that it is only by this kind of creative and innovative policies being embarked upon by the FCT Minister that Abuja can become the tourism and investment hub of Africa.

    The ICRC Acting DG noted that FCT hosts one of the most successful PPP projects in Nigeria, as demonstrated by the Garki Hospital PPP initiative which is one of its kind, as it involve the health sector. He said if FCT can make PPP work, it would be easy for the states of the Federation to copy.

    In his keynote address at the event, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello said “For us at the FCT Administration, this is a project we want to succeed simply because it will open the way for us to be able to replicate it in similar projects within the city.

    He expressed dismay that a very laudable project faced excruciating problems because of poor packaging and implementation. In doing this, the Minister noted, the Administration was taking into account the fact that the past system of developing the city based on budgetary allocation is no longer sustainable, simply because the funds are not there.

    He said, “Already, we are talking of Phase 5 of the city, whereas, except for Phase 1, there has been no significant development of infrastructure in Phases 2, 3 and, indeed, Phase 4.”

    He used the occasion to thank all the partnering ministries and agencies from where the 17-member Committee was constituted for agreeing to participate in the implementation committee. They include the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Power, and Works and Housing, the Accountant-General’s Office as well as the ICRC.

    He paid special tribute to Committee Chairman Engr. Babagana Zanna for accepting to come back to serve in spite of the very strenuous work he did earlier as Chairman of the Audit Committee.

    The terms of reference of the Committee, the Minister stated include to renegotiate the structure, scope and financing of the project to ensure compliance with the PPP principles as well as to ensure accountability fairness and value for money. The Committee is also expected to repackage the Katampe project in order to bring back the contractors to site. He pledged to continue to open the line for finance so that the project will be done and to see people building their houses and moving in.

    Bello however used the occasion to thank the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Dr Babatope Ajakaiye for having driving the process from the very beginning up to the present stage, and wished him well as he retires next week. He also announced him as an ex-officio member of the committee “in order to contribute his experiences and guidance to the project,” he stated.

    In his response, the Chairman of the Committee, Engr. Babagana Zanna thanked the FCT Minister for the confidence reposed in him and the members of the Committee and pledged to do their best to meet the expectations of the Administration and the residents.

  • AUST enhances cancer research with World Bank grant

    The African University of Science and Technology (AUST) said it has accessed about $2.2 million out of the $8 million approved by the World Bank for research-oriented programmes.

    The fund was released to fund research projects under the Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI), as reward for its ongoing research work on cancer drugs using indigenous particles.

    The PAMI is a centre under the university led by Dr. Omololu Akin-Ojo.

    He told reporters that the World Bank in order to enhance a sustainable programme was committed to giving more monetary rewards for every laid out target that would be achieved.

    He said the centre has trained about 330 PhD students and 400 short term participants to improve living standards in West and Central African countries.

    “So far the amount of money we have received is about $2.2 million. These are rewards for our performance because the project is result based; once you achieve certain things they give you more money.

    “We have spent about $1.6 million on the project so far and we focused on materials for health where we are looking at development of a drug that can aid in cancer detection and treatment,” he said.

    Co-chair of the centre, Dr Shola Odusanya, said the workshop was aimed at getting people to do “handsome work that can easily be escalated into industrial experiences”.

    He stressed that having run some trials on indigenous drugs, it was discovered that drugs were as effective as the ones deployed from the western part of the world.

    “We chose cancer as our objective to understand better the disease which is particular to us in Africa. At the quantity that is similar to the ones used worldwide, it is as effective,” he said.