How NCGC unlocked N46.95bn loans for 67,512 Nigerians, businesses – Tinubu

Meanwhile, the federal government has commenced talks with the World Bank for three new loans totalling $1.5billion.

According to documents sourced from the global lender, the proposed financing comprises three separate $500million facilities for climate resilience, social protection and early childhood development.
In the immediate is a proposed $500million additional financing for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes project, known as ACReSAL, with the global bank fixing October 29, 2026, as the estimated date for consideration by its board.

While the borrower remains the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Environment is the implementing agency.
Blueprint reports that the financing would raise the size of ACReSAL from its previously approved $700m to $1.2bn, entirely financed through the International Development Association, the World Bank’s concessional financing arm.
 “The Government of Nigeria has requested AF of $500m to scale up demonstrated project results and strengthen the institutional, operational and financing arrangements needed to sustain integrated landscape management,” the document read.
It was further gathered that the additional financing will support landscape restoration, watershed rehabilitation, erosion and flood management, irrigation and drainage, water harvesting and storage, reforestation and other climate-resilient interventions.
A breakdown shows that of the additional $500million, $310million is proposed for dry land management, $165million for community climate resilience and $25m for institutional strengthening and project management.
According to the World Bank, desertification and land degradation affected an estimated 43 per cent of Nigeria’s land area, while failure to address climate change could reduce gross domestic product by about 2.6 per cent annually by 2030 and as much as 6.7 per cent by 2050.

…Second category
In the second category is the $500million IDA credit for the Household Prosperity and Empowerment-Social Protection Project.

The HOPE-SP project is at an earlier stage of preparation, and its technical design review is expected on October 30, 2026, while the World Bank has tentatively fixed March 16, 2027, as its approval date.

On this, the Federal Ministry of Finance is listed as the borrower, while the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction is to be charged with the implementation of the programme.
With an estimated cost of $500million, the project comprises a $420million results-based programme and an $80million investment project financing component, with the entire financing expected from IDA.
The document shows that it is targeted at establishing regular social assistance for poor and vulnerable households, while gradually shifting financing responsibility towards federal and state budgets.
The HOPE-SP project, said the World Bank, would establish “a sustainable social assistance to poor and vulnerable households, financed increasingly from federal and state budgets and delivered through strengthened state and local government systems.”
 Furthermore, it is to finance targeted unconditional and conditional cash transfers, modernise the social registry, integrate the National Identification Number into the social protection information system and strengthen implementation at federal, state and local government levels.
It also said Nigeria spent only 0.14 per cent of GDP on social safety-net programmes in 2021, compared with a global average of 1.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent among lower-middle-income countries.
Painting a pathetic image of household welfare in Nigeria, the World Bank estimated that the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty had increased from 40 per cent in 2019 to 56 per cent in 2023 and could reach 62.5 per cent in 2026.

This, it blamed on several factors, including the pandemic, inflation, natural disasters and conflict, while noting that fuel subsidy removal and exchange-rate reforms worsened living costs in the short term.
…The third loan
For the third category which is the $500million facility, it is to be used for the Nigeria Early Childhood Development programme, with an estimated approval date of March 15, 2027, with its technical design review also scheduled for October 30, 2026.
Like the second category, the Federal Ministry of Finance is the borrower, but the implementing body is the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, as the project is targeted at all the 36 states and the FCT.

Specifically, it seeks to improve access to an integrated package of health, nutrition, early learning, childcare, water and sanitation, and other services for children aged zero to five.
The project is expected to be financed through a $500million IDA credit, which consists of a $400million programme-for-results component and $100million investment project financing component.
On the imperative of the facility, the World Bank said this is because “40 percent of children under five are stunted, fewer than half are developmentally on track, 36 percent of children aged 36 to 59 months attend organised early learning.”