Boosting Recovery: World Bank Elevates Palliative Loan to $315M for Nigeria’s Economic Resilience

Infostride News has reported that the World Bank has increased its disbursement to Nigeria under the National Social Safety-Net Program Scale Up (NSSP-SU). The disbursement has risen from about $300 million to $315 million, out of the approved $800 million for the program. This development, initially reported exclusively by Infostride News, signifies an additional $15 million released to Nigeria within a month of the previous disbursement.

The Implementation Status & Results Report for the project reveals that approximately 42% of the total loan is yet to be disbursed, leaving a pending balance of about $428.31 million. The allocation of the $800 million includes $600 million for Economic Shock Responsive Cash Transfer (ESR-CT), $147 million for Extended Regular Cash Transfer (ER-CT) targeting the poor and vulnerable, and $53 million for delivery system strengthening and project management.

In terms of project targets, a document sourced from the World Bank discloses that the Federal Government aimed to reach approximately five million beneficiaries by mid-December. However, as of the latest update, only about 1.5 million households have received cash transfers, representing just 0.1% of the project’s overall target of 15 million households.

Moreover, the initial project objective was to provide a monthly cash transfer of N5,000 to poor and vulnerable Nigerians. Subsequently, the Federal Government requested a modification from the World Bank to increase the cash transfer to N25,000 monthly over three months. The document states:

“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation has communicated the government’s decision to change the program parameters focused on the economic shock response. The decision is now to cover 15 million households with cash transfers of N25,000 over 3 months.”

The project is working in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Identity Management (NIMC) to efficiently enroll beneficiaries. Simultaneously, the project aims to issue a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and/or National Identity Number (NIN) for account operations. This aligns with the CBN’s directive that all bank accounts without BVN and NIN will be placed on “Post no Debit” effective April 2024, with a requirement for electronic revalidation by January 31, 2024.

Key details to note include that the National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up, approved by the World Bank on December 16, 2021, is expected to run until June 30, 2024. The $800 million program is set to be implemented by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs & Poverty Alleviation. The aim is to run a monthly cash transfer program for poor and vulnerable Nigerians, especially those adversely affected by recent policies such as the fuel subsidy removal.

In a related development, President Bola Tinubu officially launched the promised conditional cash transfer program in October 2023. The program is targeted at 15 million households nationwide, with beneficiaries expected to receive N75,000 within three months. The evolving dynamics of this initiative underscore its significance in addressing economic challenges and supporting vulnerable segments of the population.