Reacting to the controversy generated by a statement credited to its President, Jim Yong Kim, that President Muhammadu Buhari requested its special intervention in the zone, the Bank put its entire portfolio in Nigeria at “about $8.5 billion spread across the country.”
The World Bank explained that it “continues to be fully committed to helping the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reduce poverty and foster prosperity for all Nigerians.”
It said: “Under International Development Association (IDA)18, the World Bank Group is doubling its resources to address fragility, conflict and violence at the subnational and national levels and help stabilize places that are affected by high poverty and influx of people.”
The projects are located in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, it said. It listed its intervention efforts in the Northeast as including a $775 million International Development Association (IDA) credit for “restoring basic education and health services, agricultural production, and livelihood improvement opportunities through community support development and youth employment.”
The IDA is an arm of the WB that helps the world’s poorest countries.
Overseen by 173 shareholder nations, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions.
In a statement, the Bank said it had to first carry out a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) to enable it “assess the needs of the nearly 15 million people in this region impacted by the crisis.”
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