World Bank Disburses $299.99million Palliative Loan to Nigeria

The World Bank has released approximately $300 million out of the $800million budgeted for Nigeria's National Social Safety Net Program-Scale Up (NASSP-SU).  The disbursement is coming after the World bank approved the programme on December 16, 2021.

The money has already flowed into the Nigerian national treasury and it is accounting for 35.7% of the total loan. The program was established to cushion the the effects of the recent government decisions like the fuel subsidy removal on the poor masses.

President Tinubu announced the conditional cash transfer programme in October 2024. The programme is set to provide relief to about 15 million households and promises ₦75,000 for a period of three months.

As this is ongoing, the government actively seeks the expertise of a firm to help in facilitating the cash transfer mechanism.  The programme aims to be efficient, timely and impactful in reaching the needy. 

The document stated, "The Federal Republic of Nigeria has received financing from the World Bank towards the cost of the National Cash Transfer Office under the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and implementing agency of the client and intends to apply part of the proceeds towards payments under the contract for Upgrade of MIS for NASSP-SU.”

The repayments for the loan is set to be done in installments. This is according to the financial agreement document  between Nigeria and World Bank's International Development Association. The first repayment due date is January 15, 2027 and final payments are to be completed by July 15, 2051. 

The agreement also entails a commitment charge rate at the maximum and service charge. Also, there is an interest charge of one and a quarter percent annually on the loan balance.